Thread: CA-Santa Cruz defends 'sanctuary city' status

Santa Cruz defends 'sanctuary city' status, says immigrants fight crime more than they cause it
By GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTER
Posted: 11/17/2009 01:30:47 AM PST


SANTA CRUZ -- In the wake of a stabbing death with possible gang ties last month -- and a suspect here illegally who police believe has fled to Mexico -- city leaders are fighting criticism of their "sanctuary city" policy and say that even without it, Santa Cruz could do little more to crack down on illegal immigrants than it does now.

Immigration enforcement "is not part of the Police Department's scope. It's not part of the job. We don't have the resources to do it and it's not practical," said Deputy City Manager Martin Bernal.

"I think what people don't understand is that the Police Department needs the cooperation of the community to carry on its work," said Councilman Mike Rotkin. If residents are afraid of immigration raids, he said, police "are unlikely to get the cooperation of the community, of the neighborhood that they need."

Instead, Bernal said, immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while police are responsible for public safety.

The questions arose after a 16-year-old high school student was stabbed to death in an alleged gang fight last month. One suspect is in custody while another is believed to have fled to Mexico. The second suspect was detained at the border before being released south, and border patrol agents said he had been in the U.S. illegally.

At last week's City Council meeting, longtime immigration critic Pat Kittle said he felt that he couldn't discuss "unsustainable immigration" without being looked down upon. He and others said it does need to be discussed in context with local crime.

Police and city leaders, however, have long had a different take.

Santa Cruz first came out against immigration raids in the early 1980s, Rotkin said, after about 20 federal agents raided Beach Flats at once.

"After that the city passed a resolution that said we encourage the immigration agents to stay out of Santa Cruz, we don't appreciate the role that they play in terrorizing the Latino neighborhood," Rotkin said.

The City Council in 2007 reaffirmed that position after immigration officers arrested 107 people in Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Hollister the previous year. Santa Cruz police do not keep statistics on the number of illegal residents in the city, or if those they arrest are here legally, said department spokesman Zach Friend.

Watsonville has a similar policy for similar reasons.

There, where thousands of Mexican nationals and their American-born children reside, City Manager Carlos Palacios said becoming a sanctuary city in May 2007 was "largely symbolic."

Police Chief Terry Medina has for years taken the position that it's not in the best interest of police to enforce federal immigration law because otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants might fear reporting crimes in their neighborhoods.

But the department will help federal authorities enforcing criminal warrants, Deputy Chief Manny Solano said.

"We limit our assistance to federal immigration agents to calls for help," he said. "We don't of course help with indiscriminate searches for people."

Sentinel staff writer Donna Jones contributed to this report.


http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_13804980

If they ( and/ or any other "Sanctuary city" want to keep their "Sanctuary city" status) which encourages illegals to come to our country and/or in particular, their city, then they have no right to expect the rest of America to bail them out.