Los Angeles sheriff to stop turning over low-level offenders to immigration

The Los Angeles County sheriff will no longer honor federal requests to detain suspected illegal immigrants nabbed for low-level crimes like petty theft and graffiti after new state guidelines noted the practice is voluntary, a spokesman said on Wednesday. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca announced the change a day after California’s attorney general issued a directive, welcomed by immigration activists, that compliance with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention requests was discretionary. Attorney General Kamala Harris is the highest state official so far to join a handful of dissenting authorities in major U.S. cities who oppose a cooperation program between immigration agents and local law enforcement known as “Se Communities. A spokesman for Baca, who has in the past supported federal immigration requests, said new guidelines were being written and would likely come into effect by the end o

Some Say State AG Harris’ Option To Ignore ICE Is Not Enough – CBS

Many Bay Area counties said they have already been using their own discretion when notifying ICE about suspected illegal immigrants—something State Attorney General Kamala Harris just gave them permission to do. Some even said that Harris’s decision doesn’t go far enough. Santa Clara County, San Francisco, order and Berkeley officials said they have already declined to comply with the Se Communities detention orders which requires that law enforcement agencies hold those who are suspected of being an undocumented immigrant after being arrested form some unrelated crime.

Some Say State AG Harris’ Option To Ignore ICE Is Not Enough – CBS

Many Bay Area counties said they have already been using their own discretion when notifying ICE about suspected illegal immigrants—something State Attorney General Kamala Harris just gave them permission to do. Some even said that Harris’s decision doesn’t go far enough. Santa Clara County, San Francisco, site and Berkeley officials said they have already declined to comply with the Se Communities detention orders which requires that law enforcement agencies hold those who are suspected of being an undocumented immigrant after being arrested form some unrelated crime.

Comunidades seguras no es obligatorio – La Opinion

Las peticiones de detención solicitadas por el Servicio de Migración y Aduanas (ICE) para los inmigrantes indocumentados que se hacen bajo el programa federal Comunidades Seguras no son un mandato por lo que las agencias locales deben usar el criterio para responder, order anunció ayer la procuradora Kamala Harris. El anuncio de Harris se da 24 horas después de que el asambleísta demócrata de San Francisco, store Tom Ammiano reintrodujera el Acta de Confianza, (AB4) que busca frenar el impacto que ha tenido Comunidades Seguras en las deportaciones y separación de familias de inmigrantes que no han tenido delitos o condenas serios. “Este anuncio deja en claro que el gobierno federal no puede obligar a los jefes y sheriffs a mantener detenidos a los inmigrantes con base en una petición”, precisó la procuradora durante una conferencia de prensa en San Francisco. Agregó que los jefes de policía y sheriffs tienen que decidir bajo su criterio y autoridad si honran esa petición o no.

TRUST is the next step – La Opinion

This week, online California Attorney General Kamala Harris issued a legal directive indicating that it is not compulsory for local law enforcement agencies to hold a detainee just because it is required by federal immigration authorities. Harris said that every police department must decide on its own whether to comply with the so-called detainers. These detainers are requests to hold someone beyond what criminal laws require, so that ICE may determine if immigration laws have been broken. There are several reasons why the decision Harris made is a step in the right direction. First, it validates the concern of many police chiefs and civil rights advocates that the Se Communities program not only does not fulfill its own objectives. In practice, it also has turned out to be damaging in several ways: creating fear of police in immigrant communities, having local governments foot the bill for detention expenses for an activity that is essentially federal and giving rise to civil rights..