Immigration detainers on hold Sheriffs Department suspends participation in controversial program In a decision applauded by immigrant activist groups, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has suspended a program which allowed undocumented immigrants to be held in county facilities at the request of federal authorities. In an agreement between the department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as the 287(g) program, inmates with questionable immigration statuses were able to be held for up to 48 hours longer while federal authorities investigated the matter or prepared deportation hearings. The department’s voluntary withdrawal from the controversial partnership comes amid a federal judge’s ruling last month in Oregon that said immigration detainers placed by ICE first require a judicial ruling establishing probable cause. “It was a decision made by the office of the Sheriff that we were going to suspend it,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said Monday, adding the suspension took affect May 12. Pro-immigration groups lauded the decision, saying it would help to restore the immigrant community’s trust in law enforcement. “We are happy to hear that...Sheriff (John) McMahon responded so quickly to the Oregon decision and voluntarily suspended the 287(g) program in San Bernardino County,” Suzanne Foster, executive director of the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, said in a written statement. Fernando Romero, coordinator for Justice for Immigrants Coalition, said the JFIC for many years had “expressed deep concerns about the implementation of 287(g).” “The program has acted as a dragnet to funnel all undocumented residents, with the result of removing due process of arrestees for the purpose of deportation,” Romero said in a statement. The JFIC called upon McMahon to “take one step further” and permanently disband the program. Miller said there had not been any discussion at this point to reinstate the program as sheriff’s officials await the authority of immigration detainers to be determined. During the 2011-12 fiscal year, county jail inmates illegally in the country represented about an $11.6 million strain on the department. It was reimbursed only a small fraction of that cost from the U.S. Department of Justice. In November, the department accepted a federal award of $875,360, or a 7.55 percent reimbursement. As a result of thousands of dollars less in return than expected, sheriff’s officials were forced to implement salary reductions in their next quarterly budget report, according to a county document. Miller said finances were not at all a consideration in deciding to suspend the 287(g) program. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department also opted to pull its participation in the wake of the Oregon ruling.
Posted on: Tue, 20 May 2014 23:15:00 +0000
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