Thread: List of Sanctuary policies in CA

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TAKING NOTE: Orange County Sheriff deputy Jesse Hernandez, right, takes notes during the immigration processing of a female inmate at the Central Jail in Santa Ana. Hernandez is one of five deputies participating in an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, I.C.E., cross-designation program .

LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

MORE PHOTOS
Police agency guidelines on immigration

Just as "Special Order 40" dictated Los Angeles police policy on immigration status -- instructions that were later incorporated into the police department's manual -- so do Orange County police agencies give their officers guidance on how to handle the issue.

Each of the county's eight largest cities, which have populations over 100,000, set the following policies for officers in their police department manuals. Excerpts from the manual used by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, which covers more than 120,000 residents in unincorporated areas and serves 12 contract cities, are also included.

Santa Ana Police
The department will cite and release people on infractions without regard to immigration status. If a person is taken into custody for a misdemeanor that does not pose a threat to community safety, she or he will be processed without regard to immigration status. A person may be referred to ICE with approval from a Watch Commander.

Anaheim Police
Immigration status alone is not a matter for police action. Officers should cite and release individuals for cases that othewise so merit so long as they can prove their identity. If someone can't prove his or her identity, he or she may be taken into custody. Anyone brought to the city's detention facility may be interviewed by ICE.

Irvine Police
Immigration status alone will not be the basis for police action. If an officer believes a person taken into custody for a misdemeanor is undocumented, that person will be released so long as he or she can prove their identity. All felony arrests are booked into county jail.

Huntington Beach Police
Officers may not contact or arrest someone based on suspicion that person is an undocumented immigrant. If an officer can't establish a person's identity, he or she may be taken into custody. If an officer believes an individual taken into custody on a suspected criminal violation may be undocumented,the officer should alert his or her supervisor.

Garden Grove Police
Officers should provide equal treatment under the law and equal service regardless of immigration status. If an officer believes a person taken into custody for a misdemeanor is undocumented, that person will be released so long as he or she can prove their identity. Felony arrests are booked to county jail.

Orange Police
Immigration status alone should not be the basis for police action. If an officer believes an individual taken into custody on a suspected criminal violation may be undocumented,the officer should alert his or her supervisor. Note: Orange Police is in the process of updating this policy. A new version is expected this year.

Fullerton Police
Immigration status alone will not be the basis for police action. Officers should cite and release individuals for cases that othewise so merit so long as they can prove their identity. If someone can't prove his or her identity, he or she may be taken into custody with a supervisor's approval. If officers book someone on a felony and suspect the person is an illegal immigrant who will not be transported to the county jail, ICE may be notified.

Costa Mesa Police
Immigration status alone will not be the basis for police action. Officers have discretion in enforcing the law but must do so without discrimination.

Orange County Sheriff's Department
Immigration status alone should not be the basis for police action. Illegal presence is not cause alone for police action. When deputies suspect people may be undocumented immigrants, they may file a report to ICE for investigation. If deputies suspect a case of immigrant smuggling, they may detain suspects until ICE arrives.

Los Angeles Police Department
Immigration status alone will not be the basis for police action. The department will provide assistance to undocumented immigrants who are more frequently victim of certain crimes. Special Order 40, which was issued in 1979, states much of the same. It also stated that ICE should be notified by detectives in cases of repeat arrests on felonies or serious misdemeanors.
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
Do policies prevent police from enforcing immigration on the street?
But some residents wish police would check citizenship when they interact with minor offenders or others in the community.
By AMY TAXIN
The Orange County Register
Comments 14 | Recommend 1

Last month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement got a call from elected officials in Mission Viejo who wanted help cracking down on day laborers they said were a public nuisance.

Brian DeMore, ICE's acting field office director for detention and removal in Southern California, told officials that federal agents focused on major, not petty crimes. But he suggested that local deputies could cite laborers who caused any trouble on a local violation and book them into the county jail, where their immigration status would be checked by ICE-trained personnel.

That's precisely what anti-illegal immigration advocates wish law enforcement agencies would do to turn up the heat on illegal immigration. And it's what immigrant rights groups and criminal defense attorneys say amounts to racial profiling and a subtle, if not direct, way to enforce the country's immigration laws on local streets.

Over the last year, a number of Orange County law enforcement agencies have beefed up cooperation with ICE inside their jails but say their efforts don't reach beyond bars. In the county's biggest cities, police officers are instructed not to ask community members about their immigration status while they're making rounds on patrol, conducting an investigation or citing someone for a traffic ticket or minor crime, according to their police department manuals.

And yet while the manuals are similar – there are some differences that experts say stem from organizational culture and the responsiveness of departments to the communities they serve, which may represent different socioeconomic groups and different political views.

Orange County Sheriff's Department Capt. Ron White, who oversees police services for 12 contract cities, said police policy on immigration is consistent throughout his coverage area but cities have adopted different local rules to address residents' concerns about illegal immigration. "I think the cities are just trying to be responsive to their citizens and the communities," he said.
What do you think local police agencies should do about enforcing immigration?
Police should arrest every illegal immigrant they come across.
61%
Immigration should be left to federal authorities.
7%
Local police should arrest only illegal immigrants who break the law, not victims or witnesses.
31%

Total Votes: 230



The debate over how local police agencies handle immigration status has hit a feverish pitch since the Los Angeles shooting death of a 17-year old high school football player by a suspect who is an illegal immigrant. That led anti-illegal immigration groups to crusade against "Special Order 40" – a 1979 Los Angeles police policy that bars officers from directly enforcing immigration law to avoid alienating immigrants who might otherwise fear reporting crimes.

Law enforcement experts say "Special Order 40" doesn't actually prevent Los Angeles from collaborating with federal officials on immigration. Over the last three decades, most police agencies have adopted similar measures to avoid eroding immigrants' trust, which could hurt agencies' broader efforts to fight crime, according to a 2006 report by the Major Cities Chiefs.

That has made the Los Angeles policy more of a rule than an exception -- a point relished by immigrant rights groups and reviled by those seeking a local crackdown on illegal immigration.

MANUAL RULES

Most police manuals tell officers not to stop or question someone because of suspicion about their immigration status. And departments said they accepted valid foreign identification, including a passport or the Mexican consular ID card, when issuing a citation for a minor infraction.

Police said departments generally handle immigration status similarly for felons, who are booked and screened by ICE agents or ICE-trained deputies. They also agreed that police don't write up undocumented immigrants who call to report crime. Most said they usually cite and release people for traffic infractions and less serious misdemeanors so long as they can provide valid ID.

"Everybody is treated the same is the bottom line," said Anaheim police spokesman Sgt. Rick Martinez.

On paper, many departments appear the same. Immigrant rights advocates concede it is difficult to prove any real differences between agencies without an in-depth study over time.

But some say certain police departments are tougher on law enforcement than others and may be more likely to book someone on even minor crimes – especially in communities that have been cracking down on illegal immigration through local ordinances designed to weed out day laborers. That can land people in a local jail, where their immigration status will likely be checked.

Police departments like Garden Grove and Irvine, which run holding cells with a maximum six-hour stay, say suspected felons are checked by ICE-trained deputies at the Orange County jail. Cities like Huntington Beach, Fullerton, Anaheim and Costa Mesa, which have larger jails, have ICE agents on a part- or full-time basis. In Santa Ana, ICE visits the jail daily to check inmates' immigration status. Orange calls ICE as needed and an agent is dispatched.

ICE also has a 24-hour command center departments can contact when they make arrests.

"We will participate as much or as little as the locals would like us to," DeMore said. They all have their constituents to deal with so everyone chooses to deal with it in a little different way. But we are consistent in that we will respond and provide service wherever and however these agencies would like."

Juan Barba, a criminal defense attorney, said he has many Latino clients who were jailed on traffic stops in Anaheim and Costa Mesa but few in Santa Ana where his office is located. That has led him to suspect that cities that have asked ICE agents to screen arrestees are also those more likely to book someone for a minor crime.

"The issue is: what is the probable cause to stop someone?" Barba asked, adding that police departments are under the thumb of city councils that respond to constituents' concerns. "There is a sense of who the police officer really protects."

The pivotal moment occurs when an officer has to choose to cite or book someone and the question is whether that person's appearance, language or demeanor played a role in the decision, said Hector Villagra, an ACLU attorney, adding he has received complaints from community groups that some departments seem more likely to book immigrants than others.

Anton Pereyra, an Orange County Sheriff's deputy trained to check immigration status in the county jail, said he has seen officers book people on relatively minor crimes when they are repeat offenders or cause a widespread disruption to a community but rarely. It's a small percentage of the total number of cases he processes, maybe 5 percent, and don't stem from any one agency.

What he has seen over the last year is an increase in the transfer of inmates from city jails, where ICE can now screen more arrestees since deputies are handling cases for the county, he said.

CONSTITUENTS CONCERNS

Daniel, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who asked that his last name be withheld in fear of deportation, said he recently got pulled over for a dirty windshield in Anaheim. He said the police officer cited him for the windshield and for not having a driver's license. The officer asked him for ID, which he provided, then something about immigration he didn't understand, and let him go.

While the latest proposal to amend Los Angeles' Special Order 40 comes on the heels of an act of gang violence and not minor crime, people like Santa Ana resident Lupe Moreno say police shouldn't turn a blind eye to anyone caught in their sights.

Moreno, a Minuteman Project activist, said she is tired of police ignoring illegal immigration and wants them to be more responsive to her and other people's concerns. The Santa Ana resident blames "Special Order 40" for restraining street officers across Southern California who she thinks would take a stronger stance but fear overstepping department policies.

"We feel all the law enforcement (…) are actually siding with it," she said of local police departments.

Politics aside, many police agencies say they don't have the resources to focus on immigration. According to the Major Cities Chiefs, officers would require special training to enforce immigration law, which is a federal matter over which local authorities may not have clear authority.

"This is an issue that is emotional and important to a lot of people in our region and we just think we're best out of it," said Irvine police spokesman Lt. Rick Handfield. "We think that's a federal statute and it's best enforced by the federal authorities."

In Los Angeles, anti-illegal immigration groups are threatening to collect signatures for a ballot measure to try to overturn it. The city's police department already faces a lawsuit over the policy by conservative taxpayer watchdog Judicial Watch that is scheduled for trial in June.

Deputy Police Chief Sergio Diaz said the order prevents officers for investigating people solely to learn their immigration status or arresting them on an immigration violation. Once someone is booked into jail, Diaz said there is nothing that prevents police from notifying ICE, with which the department works closely on gang-related investigations.

"The order doesn't need to be amended to allow us to do that – and we do it already," he said. "I don't know any serious street police officer who is concentrating on crime thinks this is a way to address crime."

Judicial Watch attorney Sterling Norris said he sued over the policy precisely because the order has become the standard for operations - not an exception. "They all follow rule 40," he said. "It will be a landmark case if in fact we win."

On that, Villagra, who represents community groups in the suit, agreed. "Special Order 40 has a lot of symbolic value," he said. "I think if you got Special Order 40 (overturned) – you'd be getting the root of the tree."

Contact the writer: 714-796-7722 or ataxin@ocregister.com

LINK: http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ho ... 43530.php#

So much for "catch and release" !!

Santa Ana Police
The department will cite and release people on infractions without regard to immigration status. If a person is taken into custody for a misdemeanor that does not pose a threat to community safety, she or he will be processed without regard to immigration status. A person may be referred to ICE with approval from a Watch Commander

Santa Ana by the way is crawling with illegals and gangs with their graffiti everywhere. Nice to see that many of them are simply released back into the community when they come into contact with the police.

I wonder if driving an automobile without a valid license is considered a crime which "does not pose a threat" to community safety.