Plan moves forward to prevent ICE immigration activities on Alameda County property
Alameda County is hoping to create a response plan to ICE immigration enforcement activities in the county.
"Since Trump took office for the second time, he has made it clear that he has a mass deportation agenda," says Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas. "ICE is going to be the largest deportation agency in the entire country. So, it is very concerning that there could be any escalation in here in Alameda County."
Supervisor Fortunato Bas says the county needs to be prepared. So she put forth two policy proposals, which were unanimously passed:
1) To ensure there is a countywide response plan to ICE activity.
2) Create ICE-free zones throughout the county. This would prohibit ICE from county-owned and controlled properties, such as the courts and hospitals.
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"We want to make sure that ICE cannot use any of our county property or any of the private area of our buildings for their work," Fortunato Bas said. "And they could not use a vacant lot or parking lot for staging operations, processing people. That type of thing."
Supervisor Fortunato Bas says this is not a hypothetical - pointing to recent ICE activity in Alameda and Fremont.
Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones-Dickson and Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez also spoke in support of the policies at the subcommittee meeting.
"When you have people running around in sweatshirts and jeans, who are trying to take some sort of enforcement action. If we get called to that, how do we don't know who is who?" says Sheriff Sanchez.
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Oakland School Board Vice President Valarie Bachelor sees the policies as important safeguards for the community.
"I mean, this is vital! Many of our community members go to court, go to hospitals, go to our community centers every day. And to have these places be free of such a terror, that is ICE, is crucial to ensuring those services get to the people who need it the most," says Bachelor.
President Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to states and municipalities that uphold sanctuary policies. But Supervisor Fortunato Bas says those will be challenged in court. Adding that a bigger concern is with due process.
"Now, without immigration judges, with the San Francisco immigration court being closed, contact with ICE- we have to be very careful about because we have to ensure that due process," explains Fortunato Bas.
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Supervisor Fortunato Bas points out that Santa Clara County and the City of San Jose have similar policies. She sees this as part of a regional effort.
The proposals will now go before the full board to be voted on by the end of the month.
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