End ICE transfers

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and deports thousands of people from the United States each year, without regard for the trauma and harm inflicted on families, children and communities. ICE relies heavily on state and local law enforcement to locate the majority of individuals it arrests. In 2020, San Mateo County transferred more people to ICE than any other Bay Area county, according to the California Department of Justice. The sheriff is responsible for these transfers because his office provides to ICE the date when a person being held in county jail is scheduled to be released. On the day when that person should be free to reunite with their family and community, they are instead whisked away to an ICE detention facility.

In November 2021, after many years of advocacy and testimony from affected families, the San Mateo County sheriff announced his office would stop cooperating with ICE. This is progress, but we must take lasting action. A countywide policy of noncooperation with ICE must be memorialized in writing through an ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors.

Community members transferred to ICE include refugees, lawful permanent residents, people who came here as children, parents, caretakers, essential workers — valued San Mateo County residents. “The fallout from an ICE transfer is never easy for any family. It is a traumatic, time-consuming, anxiety-inducing and expensive catastrophe,” as local resident Nora Meléndez shared in this publication, speaking of her family’s experience. Deportation makes these harms permanent by banishing someone from their family, their home and, in many instances, the only country they have ever known.

Many children learn and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in grade school, which concludes, “with liberty and justice for all.” These are not just ideals, they are the law; all people within our borders are protected by the U.S. and California constitutions from unreasonable searches and seizures, from deprivations of life, liberty and property without due process of law, and from being targeted on the basis of race or ethnicity.

We cannot embrace liberty and justice for all and simultaneously support ICE transfers. It is an injustice for local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE because it exacerbates and perpetuates racial discrimination. California’s carceral system unfairly and disproportionately harms Black, Latinx/a/o, Asian and Pacific Islander people. When our local law enforcement voluntarily and unnecessarily transfers people to ICE rather than releasing them, these communities are subject to double punishment and further trauma. In addition, immigration is a federal civil issue, not a criminal one. Civil matters should not involve incarceration. When someone is released from county jail they should not be further detained by ICE for an indefinite period of time without the right to an attorney while their civil immigration matter is considered: that is an affront to liberty and due process.

In the last month, the music of “Encanto” — a film that celebrates Colombian culture — has topped the charts. While we hum the tunes of immensely talented Latinx/a/o artists, we must remember to give voice to immigrant families right next door. We must not stand idly by as our neighbors and friends are being torn away from their families and our communities.

We urge the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to adopt an ordinance ending cooperation with ICE. We urge county residents, each one of us, to contact our supervisors regarding such an ordinance. Let us take an active role in shaping the community we want to have: A true “Encanto,” a place of liberty and justice that values all people and guarantees equal protection under the law.

Yedida Kanfer is a volunteer with the North Peninsula Chapter of the ACLU of Northern California. Chowning Poppler is an attorney and has been a volunteer with the Chapter for the past decade. She is also a member of the San Mateo County Coalition for Immigrant Rights.