Deportation protesters block Fresno jail entrance

BY TIM SHEEHAN
The Fresno BeeDecember 23, 2013

FRESNO, Calif. - Anti-deportation protesters blocked M Street in front of the Fresno County Jail on Monday in Fresno.

The demonstrators demanded that Sheriff Margaret Mims stop cooperating with federal authorities in deporting jailed undocumented persons.

The protest involved about 70 protesters who marched and chanted "undocumented and unafraid," "we're here and unashamed" and "liberation, not deportation."

By about 12:30 p.m. PST, their numbers had dwindled to about 50. And while some were still blocking a driveway at the jail, many were marching in a circle on M Street, and organizers were inviting participants to step up to a megaphone and announce why they were involved in the protest.

Some of the marchers carried handmade signs declaring Mims as the "deporter in chief" for the Fresno County Sheriff's Office cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement by running checks and holding undocumented immigrants for potential deportation.

Several protesters used bicycle locks to fasten themselves by the neck to ladders in front of a driveway out of the jail. A banner strung between the ladders read "Sheriff Mims, Fresno's deporter in chief."

In a statement issued Monday afternoon, Mims said she supported the protesters' right to freedom of speech "and to legally and peacefully assemble."

She added: "Victims of crime deserve justice and protection by law enforcement. Perpetrators of crime ... should not be shielded from consequences. My priority is to enforce criminal laws and protect victims of crime."

The protest had been planned as a rally in front of Courthouse Park by a group called Fresno Immigrant Youth in Action in collaboration with California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance.

But as the rally attracted more participants, they moved to in front of the jail and locked arms.

One of the protest organizers, 21-year-old Gelasio Rodriguez of Fresno, said his older brother was deported about two years ago after being booked into the jail for driving without a license.

"We're calling upon President Obama to stop deportations, and we're asking Sheriff Mims to stop collaborating with ICE and separating our families," Rodriguez said.

Luis Ojeda, a 23-year-old who said he's originally from Colima, Mexico, and has been in Fresno for about two years, was one of several protesters from California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance who used a bicycle lock to anchor himself to a ladder on M Street. He said he and the others will remain "as long as it takes ... to stop all deportations."

"We'll do whatever it takes," he added, but would not answer if that included possible arrest for the protest.

By 2 p.m. Monday, the number of protesters had dwindled to about 30, and instead of chants and shouts the event involved more milling about in the middle of M Street.

In her statement, Mims said it's up to the federal government, not the sheriff's office, "to enforce federal immigration law," and said her office will continue to communicate with ICE "as we would with any law enforcement agency."

But, she added, her department will comply with the "Trust Act," legislation passed by state lawmakers that takes effect Jan. 1, which prohibits local police agencies from detaining people on ICE holds after a person becomes eligible for release except under certain conditions.

Those conditions include:
-Conviction for a serious or violent felony or a felony punishable by time in state prison.
-Conviction within the past five years for a misdemeanor charge punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony (a "wobbler" case), or a felony conviction, for a wide range of crimes including assault, sexual abuse, rape, kidnapping, child abuse, burglary, robbery, felony DUI, escape, felony drug charges, using a firearm in the commission of a crime, or other serious offenses.
-Current listing on the state's Sex and Arson Registry.
-Being charged with a serious or violent felony.
-Conviction for a range of federal crimes or identified by ICE as being wanted on an outstanding federal arrest warrant.
If none of those conditions applies, the new law states, "an individual shall not be detailed on the basis of an immigration hold after the individual becomes eligible for release from custody."

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