Immigrant rights groups protest at Marin County Board of Supervisors meeting, demand sheriff's office stop cooperating with ICE
Protesters with immigrant rights groups and others spoke out at the Marin County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. The advocates said they are upset the sheriff's office is cooperating with ICE.
They demanded that the Marin County Sheriff's Office stops all cooperation with ICE, that the county withdraws from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program and that it stops publishing its booking logs.
"We elected the sheriff to take care of public safety, and we also elected the Board of Supervisors to watch over the sheriff and their budget and their processes," said Peter Goetz, with the Democratic Socialists of America Marin Chapter. "The process of sending in information and telling names of those who have been detained, who happen to be undocumented is not acceptable in our county."
Advocates say decisions at the county level are having a huge impact on immigrants in the community.
"The people that are being impacted are just some of the hardest working people in our community. They do the jobs that nobody else really wants to do. But they're not criminals," said Raquel Ortegon with Fuerza Unidas.
The Marin County Sheriff's Office said that it abides by Senate Bill 54 which prevents the federal government from using local and state law enforcement for immigration raids.
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In an email to ABC7 News, the sheriff's office said that it supports the public voicing their opinion on this matter, but that it abides by federal and California laws and are legally bound to abide by Federal and CA laws which may require cooperation with ICE or other federal agencies in very specific instances.
It said outside those specific circumstances, it does not coordinate with those agencies for the purpose of federal immigration issues.
In a statement: "The Marin County Sheriff's Office does not work in coordination with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside the parameters of California Senate Bill 54. Our limited cooperation with federal agencies is in line with California state laws and our agency remains focused around supporting our community members and building trust between law enforcement and the public we serve. In short, the Marin County Sheriff's Office does not enforce federal immigration law or related civil warrants."
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Still, the advocates say the sheriff's office is acting in a way that's harmful to the immigrant community and they want leaders to take action.
"The sheriff can decide, with the help of your supervisors, to stop sending information of detainees to the federal government, to the Department of Justice, stop now," Goetz said.
The advocates spoke during public comment on items not related to the day's agenda. Public comment lasted around 45 minutes before supervisors went on to the rest of their meeting.
