ICE wanted them to detain people who it believes could be expelled from the country for violating immigration law.
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“Rumors and reports that recent ICE operations are specifically targeting Travis County, apart from normal operations, are inaccurate”, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement statement said.
“The administration is trying to publicly shame jurisdictions by publishing this list”, said King County Councilman Joe McDermott. Those are requests that ICE be notified before someone in the country illegally, who is already in local law enforcement custody, is released.
“We will continue collaborating with them to help ensure that illegal aliens who may pose a threat to our communities are not released onto the streets to potentially harm individuals living within our communities”, he said in a statement.
First blush: ICE issued a detainer request for a Dominican man incarcerated on heroin trafficking charges in Philadelphia, which the city declined February 3.
On Monday, ICE issued a list of counties and cities that don’t comply with detainer requests, and it included Lehigh County. Travis County alone declined 142 of the 206 requests.
“Although we by no metric could be said to have a preponderance of undocumented immigrants compared to other urbanized communities, and certainly we have an enviable crime rate with regard to other urbanized areas in Texas, the only explanation for the high ICE activity in our region would be political”, she said.
“That’s new knowledge to me”, Bryant responded.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office is on a federal list of law enforcement agencies that haven’t routinely cooperated with holding detainees for immigration officials.
“Denver does not shield criminals, and we will always honor federal warrants”, he said in an email.
Professor Hlass said the information released by DHS does not provide the full picture and is misleading.
Big city mayors and immigration activists are pushing back at the administration’s attempts to expose and sanction sanctuary cities, while the president is threatening to withhold federal funds to cities that refuse to cooperate.
County officials, however, have long protested using local police and deputies to enforce immigration statutes – the bailiwick of Homeland Security – and complain that some of those being targeted are members of the community they’re supposed to protect. “And we say [to ICE], ‘Sorry, you’re going to have to find them elsewhere.’ Let’s face it, most of the guys here are not big-time guys”. The dual role erodes trust, they say.
“That seems to be the one check on the presidency that we do have is still the independent judiciary”, she said. “The sheriff has been sanctioned because ICE didn’t come to their defense, despite the fact that person was held based on an ICE request”, he said. “You have to live your normal lives, ‘” Martinez said.
AUSTIN, Texas ― For years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have generally obeyed a simple rule when it comes to schools, churches, hospitals and demonstrations ― they don’t arrest people in those places, which are deemed “sensitive locations”. That allows ICE agents to interview suspected illegal immigrants and take them into federal custody.
The report wasn’t the only ICE concern for Texas officials. The agency’s officers conduct themselves in accordance with their authorities under federal law and the Constitution.
Beck, along with L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti, attributed the decline to Trump’s immigration policy and widespread fear that reporting crimes could lead to deportation.
Sheriff Sally Hernandez, a Democrat, said her office would also comply with ICE detainers if there is a warrant issued for the detainee or a court order.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) published the report, titled “Declined Detainer Outcome”, which was mandated by a January 25 executive order issued by President Trump. Keller didn’t go so far as to condemn the report or acknowledge concerns about its implications for perception of public safety in the county.
