Sheriff: Immigration bill could be harmful

SB-54 would prevent local cooperation with feds






Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson worries that a proposed state law to limit communication between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities could prevent the deportation of criminals.


Kings County Sheriff David Robinson

Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson worries that a proposed state law to limit communication between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities could prevent the deportation of criminals.

Currently, anyone arrested and booked into the Kings County Jail has their fingerprints submitted to the FBI. The FBI shares the inmate’s information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Local law enforcement members can't ask about immigration status from anyone they contact.

James Schwab, a spokesman for ICE’s San Francisco office, said the fingerprints are cross-referenced through the Department of Homeland Security.

California state Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles has proposed SB-54, known as the California Values Act. The bill would prohibit state and local law enforcement from detaining a person exclusively for immigration violations, and from reporting or handing a person to federal immigration authorities.

Robinson called the bill "ridiculous," and said local law enforcement does not enforce federal immigration laws. Robinson said existing state laws already prohibit peace officers from asking a person about their immigration status.

“That is not happening,” Robinson said. “That is illegal for us to do that. We don’t ask about immigration status.”

Under current law, Robinson has turned over inmates with an ICE detainer at the completion of their jail sentence. But an inmate can't be held at the jail after their sentence is completed because of current state law, so coordination must be done with ICE before the prisoner is released.

A 2013 California law bars peace officers from detaining a person on the basis of an immigration hold or detainer after the person is eligible for release from custody.

Schwab said people who enter the country illegally usually have their first encounter with federal immigration agents when they cross the border into the United States. Those individuals receive a notice to appear in court to begin the deportation process.

Schwab said immigrants often fail to appear in court and are flagged by the Department of Homeland Security.

De León has said his bill would prevent federal immigration authorities from separating families and hurting the state’s economy. The Senate Public Safety Committee voted 5-2 to approve the bill Tuesday.

“This past week, the President has confirmed some of our worst fears,” de León said in a statement. “(President Trump) will not focus on criminals, as he promised on the campaign trail. Instead his deportation policy will be a dragnet for thousands, if not millions of hardworking immigrants.”



As of Wednesday, Robinson said, 19 of the more than 400 inmates at the Kings County Jail had been flagged for immigration violations. Those inmates are being held on charges for crimes including murder, manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon, rape, child molestation and serious drug-related crimes.

Robinson said ICE can choose to pick up those inmates when they are released from jail. SB-54 would prevent jail officials from notifying ICE when one of those inmates is being released.

It’s unclear how many people Kings County Jail inmates ICE has actually taken into custody. Kings County falls under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Enforcement and Removal Field Office, which includes 49 counties from Bakersfield north to the Oregon border.

Over the past five years, more than 56,000 people have been deported from the region. About three quarters of those deported were convicted criminals.


As written, SB-54 would also prohibit state and local agencies from placing officers “under the supervision of federal agencies” or employing peace officers “deputized as special federal officers.” The bill does not appear to be limited to immigration-related federal agencies.

“We wouldn’t even be able to contact Homeland Security to inform them about a suspected terrorist,” Robinson said.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 25 calling for stricter enforcement of federal immigration laws.

Trump’s order calls for the Department of Homeland Security to remove undocumented immigrants, with priority placed on those who have done the following:


  • Convicted of any criminal offense
  • Charged with any criminal offense
  • Committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense
  • Engaged in fraud or willful misrepresentation in any official matter or application to a governmental agency
  • Abused any public assistance programs
  • Are subject to a final order of removal, but have not left the United States
  • Otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security.


The executive order calls for the termination of the Department of Homeland Security’s former priorities set in a Nov. 20, 2014, memo by former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Charles Johnson.

The memo placed priority on threats to national security, border security and public safety. Such threats included immigrants with ties to espionage or terrorism, and those convicted of gang-related offenses or serious felonies, including murder, rape, child molestation, drug trafficking and weapons trafficking.

Johnson placed lower priority on illegal immigrants who have committed misdemeanors or other immigration violations.

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