Community Demands Answers About Mayor & Police Chief’s Interactions with ICE, Delegation to File and Publicly Deliver Public Records Request

Escondido, CA – North County residents and human rights organizations are demanding answers about Mayor Dane White and Police Chief Ken Plunkett’s communications and cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, aka ICE, including the agency’s use of a city-owned firing range.  A delegation of residents will deliver a Public Records Act request to “uncover the truth” about the Mayor, Chief, and city officials’ interactions with ICE and the Trump Administration.  The PRA request will be available as soon as it is submitted electronically on Friday morning, prior to the in-person delivery.

The revelations of ICE’s use of the city-owned shooting range (in January of this year) come as the country is still reeling from the murders of Alex Pretti, Keith Porter Jr. and Renée Nicole Macklin Good.  The shocking murders by DHS agents took place as Border Patrol and ICE continue to escalate attacks in U.S. cities, showing zero concern over violations of Constitutional due process, and serving as a de-facto militarized police force to advance Donald Trump’s political agenda.

This week, public polling shows a significant shift against ICE (NBC News:  Americans Support ICE Overhaul; NPR: Two-thirds of Americans, ICE has gone too far), as the U.S. public witnesses ICE’s abuses for themselves.  For one year, the U.S. public has suffered and (despite an illegal policy to deter legal observation) documented numerous abuses, a lack of basic standards for conduct or accountability, and grave human rights violations carried out by ICE.

For many North County households Escondido has been an unsafe city for over three generations due to city officials’ collusion with DHS agencies; with many residents identifying common instances of racial profiling and warrantless arrests.  Today, many of those abuses are on display for the country to witness first-hand.

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