The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 to make the city a “Super Sanctuary,” prohibiting the county from cooperating with ICE.
“The proposed resolution and Board Policy specifies that the County shall not provide assistance or cooperation to federal immigration authorities in its civil immigration enforcement efforts, including by giving federal immigration agents access to individuals or allowing them to use County facilities for investigative interviews or other purposes, expending County time or resources responding to federal immigration inquiries or communicating with federal immigration authorities regarding individuals’ incarceration status or release dates, or otherwise participating in any civil immigration enforcement activities,” according to the resolution.
Chairwoman Nora Vargas doesn’t think California’s sanctuary law goes far enough, so she proposed such a strict policy on immigration enforcement.
“While the California Values Act significantly expanded protection from deportation to California residents, it fell short of protecting all residents because it allowed agencies to still notify ICE of release dates and transfers individuals to ICE without a warrant in some circumstances,” wrote Vargas. “This loophole has allowed the transfer of some individuals to ICE and notifications to ICE of release dates, leading to the deportation of our community members and the separation of families in our region.”
Vargas claimed the policy would increase trust in the community. She also said it would free up resources for other critical needs, reducing the administrative and operational costs tied to federal immigration enforcement.
“By avoiding active cooperation with ICE, including through specific notification to ICE of the release dates of immigrants, the County avoids treating a group of individuals differently solely on the basis of their immigration status,” said Vargas. “The County likewise avoids providing unequal access to probation programs and re-entry services for certain ex-offenders based on their immigration status.”
Here’s something I don’t get: “Limiting cooperation focuses our local County resources on local matters, as immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.”
So Vargas insists it’s just for “civil” infractions but not criminal violations.
But that means when an illegal alien is in their custody, and they’ve been “convicted of a higher-level misdemeanor or felony,” the officials cannot turn them over.
Santa Clara County enacted a similar policy in 2019 that limits cooperation.
Republican Jim Desmond voted against it. He wrote:
This reckless measure not only goes far beyond California’s already extreme Sanctuary State laws but actively endangers our communities by shielding illegal immigrant criminals from deportation. Consider this: under this policy, law enforcement is prohibited from notifying ICE about individuals, in custody, who have committed violent and heinous crimes, including: Rape and stalking, Assault and battery, Burglary, Child abuse and more.Let me be crystal clear—this policy means that an illegal immigrant who has committed one of these appalling crimes will now walk free on our streets, once they serve their jail sentence, protected by County policies, with no coordination with ICE.
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