From We Are California Partner, Alliance San Diego:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BREAKING: San Diegans Applaud County Supervisors’ Vote to Prohibit Using County Dollars to Help With Immigration Enforcement
SAN DIEGO — Today on Human Rights Day, December 10th, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted to pass a board policy prohibiting the use of County dollars to aid in federal immigration enforcement. The board policy builds upon the framework of Senate Bill 54 (SB 54), also known as the California Values Act, which limits how local and state law enforcement agencies are able to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other federal immigration agencies, by putting an end to the Sheriff’s practice of transferring individuals to ICE and notifying ICE of release dates without a judicial warrant.
“We applaud the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for taking this important step to protect San Diego immigrants and their families,” said Ian Seruelo, Chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium (SDIRC) and chapter leader of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) San Diego. “By ensuring that our local resources are not used to detain and deport San Diegans, the Board is sending a strong message that immigrants are valued and welcomed in our region.”
For many years, the San Diego County Sheriff chose to hand immigrants over to ICE when it was not required to do so, without a judicial warrant. This practice created a dual justice system, where immigrants who had been deemed eligible for release were subject to further detention, deportation, and separation from their families. It also eroded community trust in our local law enforcement and government, putting our public safety at risk.
“This is a huge victory for San Diego immigrants and their families,” said Robert Vivar, SDIRC Board Member and Co-Director of Unified U.S. Deported Veterans. “Nearly two decades ago, I was transferred to ICE by the Riverside Sheriff and deported to Mexico. As a result of the Sheriff transferring me to ICE, I was unable to get the legal representation that I needed to fight my case. I spent years separated from my family who lived in the U.S. until the conviction was vacated at the California Supreme Court and my legal permanent residence was restored. This board policy will protect San Diego immigrants and their families, and ensure that no San Diegan will have to go through what my family and I went through.”
In passing this board policy, San Diego County joins eight (8) other counties in California that have passed or adopted internal policies that protect immigrants that go beyond those outlined in SB 54, and ensure that San Diego remains a place where every family feels safe and has the opportunity to thrive. We applaud County Supervisor Nora Vargas for bringing forward this policy along with Supervisors Monica Montgomery-Steppe and Terra Lawson Remer who joined Vargas in supporting with their votes. These County Supervisors listened to the people and centered the care, safety, and dignity of all San Diegans and our families, which is what we need from leadership.
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About the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium:
The San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium is a project of Alliance San Diego. Since 2007, community, faith, labor, and legal organizations have come together as the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium (SDIRC). Through SDIRC, these organizations are pursuing four common goals: support comprehensive immigration reform; stop the spread of local policies and practices that target and violate the civil and human rights of immigrants; educate immigrants, and educate the public about the important contributions of immigrants. immigrantsandiego.org