Thread: Sheriff to meet with coalition on ICE cooperation in county jail

Salinas >> Sheriff Steve Bernal will meet Thursday with a coalition of community groups led by the ACLU’s Monterey County Chapter to discuss his cooperation with federal Immigration and

Customs Enforcement agents in Monterey County Jail.

The meeting comes a little more than two weeks after the groups, calling themselves the Monterey County Immigration Coalition, sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors urging them to ask Bernal to

rescind his policy of allowing ICE agents to work out of the jail and have access to jail records in an effort to identify inmates in the country illegally with “significant criminal convictions.”

Bernal implemented the program on a regular basis last month under the federal Priority Enforcement Program after quietly initiating a trial period in mid-August.

Local ACLU President Michelle Welsh said Thursday’s meeting will be an opportunity for the coalition to express its views on the policy and “see if the sheriff is willing to do anything at all” to change it.

Welsh said there has been no indication that would happen, and the coalition is still waiting for a written draft of the policy from the sheriff.

Welsh said the Board of Supervisors also hasn’t responded in writing to the coalition’s Oct. 26 letter, though she said she had heard the supervisors were talking with members of the coalition.

In the letter, co-signed by seven organizations and three individuals, the coalition argued the policy “jeopardizes community safety by eroding trust of law enforcement” and makes it less likely that

non-citizen victims of crime would call law enforcement for help for fear they would be deported.

According to the letter, “If even one individual is turned over to ICE by our local law enforcement, whether by notification or any other mechanism, there will be a chilling effect on community trust.”

The letter also argued the policy would “curtail the rights of immigrants and contribute to jail overcrowding” and create strain on the criminal justice system because inmates in the country illegally would

not post bail for fear of being picked up by ICE, leading to longer jail stays.

Further, the letter said, criminal defense counsel would request trials for non-citizen clients because pleading the case to a conclusion would also mean transfer to ICE.

“Local law enforcement involvement in immigration enforcement criminalizes immigrant communities, undercuts due process, tears apart families, and undermines community safety,” the letter read.

Among those co-signing the letter were the Monterey County Public Defender, the Immigration Action Group, the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council and attorney Blanca Zarazua, honorary consul of

Mexico, among others.

Supervisor Simon Salinas, the board chairman, said the board has not specifically addressed or discussed the coalition’s letter, and he expects to wait until after Thursday’s meeting before doing so.

Salinas said he hopes Bernal will be able to clarify for the coalition that the policy targets only the more serious offenders and not “lower-tier” inmates, and will be able to address the coalition’s concerns

about the policy’s impact on the immigrant community.

“At the end of the day, he’s an elected official and we can’t tell him how to operate the jail or allocate his resources,” Salinas said. “The voters will decide how they think he’s done his job.”

Supervisor Jane Parker said Bernal has told the board he is conducting public outreach and has offered to participate in any board-sponsored outreach efforts. Parker said she plans to hold her own

community meeting on Nov. 19 at San Pablo Apostol Church in Seaside.

Sheriff to meet with coalition on ICE cooperation in county jail

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