Oakland strengthens sanctuary status
Many of Oakland’s immigrant residents are stressed and anxious. The undocumented among them are scared of being deported. It’s because of the anti-immigrant rhetoric that sprays like spittle from the mouths of the president and his most ruthless henchmen and followers, not to mention a big jump in immigration-related arrests nationwide.
The spreading fear is why the Oakland City Council’s decision to rescind a cooperation agreement that the police force had with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, was a no-brainer.
The measure, introduced by Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, means that Oakland cannot designate its officers as customs enforcement officers, which would allow them to work with ICE in investigations of human trafficking, drug smuggling and other crimes. It was approved unanimously at last week’s council meeting.
The council cited concerns over data sharing — and a community consumed by the threat of deportation.
The resolution strengthens Oakland’s position as a sanctuary city.
“It’s important that it not just be a symbolic statement,” said Kaplan, referring to the city’s sanctuary status. “We have to make it real, and part of making it real is rescinding this agreement.”
Even if past collaboration between the Police Department and ICE was minimal, the move provides reassurance to Oakland’s immigrants that the city won’t cooperate with the federal government to detain and deport people.
Oakland needed to reinforce its sanctuary status because immigration as a hot-button issue won’t cool down as long as building a huge border wall is the foundation of the president’s plan to remake America.
Immigration will remain heated for as long as the travel ban, which restricts entry to the country by refugees and visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries, plays out in the courts.
Immigration will sizzle as long as the administration toys with the idea of ending federal protections for immigrants known as Dreamers who were brought to the country as children.
And as long as the president recklessly foments suspicion and hatred of immigrants, people will be terrified that any cooperation by local police with ICE will lead to families being torn apart.
“It’s the apprehension of being stopped for the most innocent behavior,” said George Larma of the Latino Task Force in Oakland, a community organization of U.S. citizens advocating for immigrants without legal status. “For us, it’s about the mom who takes her kid to the school and then goes to the post office and may end up being picked up.”
Brian Hofer, chairman of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission, which spent months researching the city’s agreement with ICE, said the trauma in the Latino community is “not debatable.”
The commission found that the Police Department’s relationship with ICE, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security, didn’t result in any “demonstrated successes.” In its report to the City Council, the commission wrote that under the current administration, “ICE’s revised policies clearly conflict with Oakland’s status as a sanctuary city.”
Oakland’s deal with ICE was signed last summer by former Police Chief Sean Whent — just hours before he resigned as a sexual misconduct scandal swept through the department.
New Chief Anne Kirkpatrick opposed the council’s resolution. And Deputy Chief Danielle Outlaw said active investigations into sex and labor trafficking would be jeopardized if the agreement were rescinded.
But when the Privacy Advisory Commission asked police officials for a list of officers who had participated in the ICE program, it was told none had done so, Hofer said.
“This particular agreement has not provided any benefit to Oakland,” Hofer told me. “If there was some sort of legitimate need, or information from ICE, we can informally act on that. There’s no need for a formal agreement.”