Thread: CA: County sanctuary proposed

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County sanctuary proposed
Latino advocacy group calls for pass on immigration law


By EVE HIGHTOWER
ehightower@modbee.com


Last Updated: June 25, 2007, 04:43:22 PM PDT



A civil rights group called the Brown Berets wants Stanislaus County to be an "immigrant sanctuary."
The Brown Berets wants:

The county to stop working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Law enforcement to stop asking about people's legal status.

The county to notify the Brown Berets and other community groups when federal agents are in the area so the groups can advise illegal immigrants.

The Brown Berets is a Latino rights advocacy group that grew out of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The Modesto Brown Berets' motto is "Culture, Community, Revolution."

Making Stanislaus County a sanctuary "would make certain that those who are living here are no longer treated like animals, being forced to live underground by the fear of deportation," said Brown Berets member Ricardo Gil Jr. He runs the activist Web site aztlanrising.com that has organized immigration protests.

The Brown Berets sent a copy of its proposed ordinance to each county supervisor.

County Chief Executive Officer Rick Robinson declined the group's request this week, encouraging it to work with federal representatives instead.

In a phone interview, Robinson said immigration is beyond the supervisors' authority and the ordinance would limit the county.

"Counties don't make laws that would override federal and state laws," he said. "With this (ordinance), local government officials would be precluded from cooperating with ICE. That's certainly not good pol-icy."

The Brown Berets then submitted their request to Modesto City Council members Wednesday.

City Manager George Britton, who hadn't seen the request, said it could be discussed during a meeting if the group asks the city clerk to put the proposal on the council agenda.

If the council were to pass the ordinance, it wouldn't be the first to do so. Some cities already have achieved sanctuary status.

In May, the Watsonville City Council agreed to the group's three points. In April, San Francisco and Oakland reaffirmed their pledges that no city em-ployee will participate in federal immigration raids. They have been sanctuaries for 21 years.

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Denver also are among a growing list of cities large and small that claim immigrant sanctuary status by, to some extent, protecting immigrants labeled "illegal" by federal law. Most commonly, sanctuary cities agree not to ask people about their immigration status.

Deputies don't routinely ask

Sheriff Adam Christianson said Stanislaus County deputies don't routinely ask about people's status.

"Our investigators aren't worried about immigration status," he said. "They're worried about protecting everyone," he said.

The Brown Berets also want Stanislaus County to cease working with ICE.

"We currently have an ICE agent assigned to our county and work closely with him and are happy to do so," said Chief Dep-uty District Attorney John Goold.

That relationship does not include helping with raids.

"Our resources are stretched thin trying to catch real criminals," Goold said.

While immigration enforcement isn't local agencies' responsibility, they can cross-designate deputies to function as ICE agents. Christianson said he isn't interested in doing that with deputies on the street.

"It's not my job," he said, adding that he doesn't care about people's immigration status unless they're in jail.

Brown Berets also wants the county to notify groups when ICE is in the area. Christianson said that's not his responsibility either.

Local agencies may not know when ICE is in the area, said Modesto police Sgt. Craig Gund-lach.

"They have federal jurisdiction. They don't have a duty to notify us or anyone of what they are doing," he added.

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13720 ... 6089c.html

Comment was left re this article.
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Illegals deserve to be harassed


About the proposed sanctuary for illegal immigrants ("County sanctuary proposed" June 23, Page A-1): I have to ask the question: Does no one know what the word "illegal" means?
We are selling ourselves and our country out from under us. This Brown Berets group wants to protect these illegal people from harassment. Duh! They are illegal; they should be harassed and sent back to whatever country they came from.

This is not just about Latinos, though they seem to be the ones leading the assault on America. Why should illegals come here and get free food, medical care and financial help, while hardworking Americans can't afford to get basic medical help? Remember, they are here against the law and should be treated accordingly.

They are lawbreakers. They and anyone who helps them should be deported. This would even ease the overcrowding in our prisons and ease our welfare system.

JIM MOTT

Ceres

http://www.modbee.com/opinion/letters/s ... 0226c.html

Can any of the legal citizens of a sanctuary city sue the city if they are harmed by an illegal in their city? I am just curious , maybe that could
help the residents who voice objections to sanctuary status be taken seriously.
These Brown Berets sound rather menacing.I wouldn't want them in my town.You have to wonder about any group if they want to be notified when enforcement officers are in the area.

Can you beleive the gall of these people. Any county or city that harbors a criminal makes the elected officials there guilty of aiding and abetting a criminal.

Boy, we have our work cut out for us to straighten this entire mess out, but straighten it out, we will. We've got people, now!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CTCIC Sends Warning Letter to DeStefano

CT Citizens for Immigration Control sent a warning letter to Mayor Tom DeStefano of New Haven. The letter asserts that an identification card for illegal aliens would be a criminal violation of U.S. Immigration Law by inducing illegal aliens to reside in the United States.

The letter says the mayor and city officials issuing an ID, plus any citizen or organizations accepting such an ID card, would be subject to fines and imprisonment.

In addition, the letter says that such and ID card and its acceptance would be criminal racketeering. Officials implementing an ID Card and citizens accepting it would be engaged in immigration racketeering would be subject to private law suits under RICO.

[b]“Mayor DeStefano will be putting himself, the City Council and other New Haven residents in financial jeopardy by passing this bill,â€