ICE arrests in California anger state officials
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced 128 arrests Oct. 7 in California of people facing possible deportation for past criminal convictions or pending charges who the agency said had been released by local officials under local and state sanctuary laws.
“A part of ICE’s mission is to protect the American people and provide security to our communities,” Tony H. Pham, a senior official serving as ICE’s director, said in a news statement. “Unfortunately, California’s sanctuary laws protect and shield criminal aliens, harboring them in our communities where they can potentially reoffend and revictimize.”
But the arrests, most of which were in Southern California, drew fire from California officials. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, who chairs the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration and citizenship, called it “dangerous and irresponsible” to fill immigration detention centers where COVID-19 could spread. And citing reports that it was part of a “political messaging campaign,” she said “to do so for the sake of scoring political points is unconscionable.”
ICE reported that the arrests took place Sept. 18-Oct. 3 and targeted people subject to removal who were arrested for alleged crimes but were released by state or local law enforcement agencies, despite having active immigration detainers in place.
ICE did not identify or describe all those arrested but said more than 95% had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges at the time of arrest. In the Los Angeles area, ICE said its officers arrested nearly 100 unlawfully present individuals with criminal histories that include homicide, sexual assault, sex crimes involving children, assault, robbery, domestic violence and drunken driving.
They included a 40-year-old citizen of El Salvador arrested Sept. 29 who had been convicted in Los Angeles of first-degree murder in November 2009, and whom ICE said Los Angeles jail officials released after ignoring the detainer.
The agency also described a 50-year-old citizen of Mexico arrested Sept. 28 in Long Beach who had been convicted in Los Angeles of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder in June 1994, also released from a Los
Angeles jail despite an immigration detainer, who since has been deported back to Mexico.
ICE said all those in violation of immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and removal from the U.S., and that it takes many factors into account when making arrests — including the subject’s criminal and immigration history.
California made national headlines in 2017 with the California Values Act barring local law enforcement agencies from using any of their resources on behalf of federal immigration enforcement, similar to sanctuary city policies that had been adopted in many Bay Area cities and counties.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf criticized those policies Oct. 7.
“Unfortunately, certain local politicians, including many in California, continue to put politics over public safety,” Wolf said.
Lofgren in her letter to Pham cited concerns that four of five detention centers in California have had COVID-19 outbreaks. She asked him to describe what steps ICE has taken to coordinate with local public health officials and what its plans are to prevent the spread of COVID-19.