Orange County leaders are on track to continue notifying federal immigration officials when certain people are released from jails after having completed their sentence – who often then get picked up by ICE.
While sheriffs aren’t allowed to send anyone they catch to ICE, they can notify federal law enforcement when prisoners with immigration holds who’ve been convicted of a serious felony are released so that federal officers can pick them up outside the jail.
That happened over 300 times last year, a practice many residents and activists in the audience took issue with, with many questioning why immigrants should be penalized again after serving their prison sentences.
[Read: How Many People Did OC Sheriffs Turn Over to ICE Last Year?]
“What is more important?” said David Duran, cofounder of Housing is a Human Right OC. “To do what is right is sometimes more important than to do what is lawful.”
While he didn’t speak at the meeting, County Sheriff Don Barnes has repeatedly defended his office’s work with ICE, highlighting that many of the immigrants convicted of felonies they released later reoffended.
“These offenders pose a significant risk to our communities and removing them is consistent with the department’s mission to enhance public safety for all Orange County residents,” Barnes said in a statement last week. “Allowing federal partners to take custody of individuals already in detention is more targeted, more efficient, and safer for everyone, law enforcement and the public alike.”
The only supervisor to protest the existing system was Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, the former mayor of Santa Ana who’s also repeatedly brought up concerns over ICE’s presence in Orange County, calling them a “rogue agency.”
“If there was ever a year to step back and say ‘Do these transfers make our community safer?” this was it,” Sarmiento said.
He also highlighted that other counties, including LA County, have opted to not cooperate with immigration.
Sarmiento said LA County saved money by doing it, adding that no one was calling for the release of violent criminals, but that after they served their sentences it was another matter.
“No one is saying release them, don’t have them serve time,” Sarmiento said. “We are saying now that second step, that is a volitional step, and is something we need to reconsider.”
Supervisor Doug Chaffee noted he was “dismayed by some of the lawlessness I see immigration officers use,” but did not call for any changes to the program.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
