In the last few weeks, law enforcement agencies around the Bay Area have sent a unified message to federal immigration officials: we won't hold inmates for you anymore. Sheriff's departments in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties have all said that they will no longer detain most individuals on behalf of immigration authorities when they have otherwise been cleared for release. There are exceptions for those believed to pose significant public safety concerns, but the overriding message to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials is clear: get a judge to grant an order or these people will be released.
The move by the various sheriff departments is significant, and is part of a national trend of resisting the Obama administration's deportation dragnet, the Contra Costa Times reported. At the state level, Governor Jerry Brown signed the Trust Act last fall, which limits the state's cooperation with the Secure Communities federal program. That bill was authored by gay Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and means that only those convicted of a violent felony can be subject to deportation hold requests. Under such requests, a person could be held for up to 48 hours to allow federal officials time to pick up the detained person for possible deportation. San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, who had previously limited who could be placed on an ICE hold, has gone further now in that only cases where there is a judicial determination or arrest warrant would result in a person being held for immigration officials, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
In the case of Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern, the move marks a complete turnaround. Ahern, a Republican, previously led the fight to block the plan to shut ICE agents out of jails, the Times noted.
Immigration advocates are elated, as the rights to due process will be restored with these new policies. It also means, as Mirkarimi noted, that immigrants need not fear the repercussions of cooperating with law enforcement if they know that local authorities won't be holding them for federal officials.
The fact that California and the county sheriffs are standing up to the feds is just one recent example of the problems with this country's immigration system and a local response to congressional inaction. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a horrible ruling that says children of immigrants who lost their place in the slow-moving system because they turned 21 and "aged out" could not be given special priority. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the majority decision, which, according to the New York Times included "seemingly humorous asides" that don't have a place in such a serious issue. These young people came to the U.S. with their parents and now face being separated from their families. Kagan blamed Congress for not being clear enough with its 2002 law, the point of which was to keep families together. That law permits aged-out children to hold on to their child status after they turn 21.
Don't count on Congress to clear up the confusion that so befuddled Kagan, much less vote on comprehensive immigration reform even though a new poll shows a clear majority – 62 percent – of Americans favoring a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. A growing number of advocates – LGBT, business, religious – have beseeched the House of Representatives to take action, but it doesn't look like Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will call for a vote on a bill that the Senate already passed. Tuesday's defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Virginia) at the hands of a little-known Tea Party candidate virtually assures there will be no immigration vote this year. Cantor lost in part because he was portrayed as "soft" on immigration, which is laughable given he was against reform and was one of the obstacles to a House vote.
According to the Times, the poll is based on interviews with 1,538 Americans who took the same survey last year. "Support has remained 'remarkably steady,'" the Times reported of the survey findings. That is, if undocumented immigrants meet certain requirements, there should be a way for them to gain citizenship. Even 51 percent of Republicans support a path to citizenship. The problem is the stubborn Tea Party members, of which only 37 percent favor offering citizenship. That's Boehner's problem in the House too; Tea Party members are holding immigration reform hostage for their own political gain and they will work to defeat any Republican who votes for it. Boehner, who wants to hold on to his post, won't schedule a vote.
But trouble is looming for the Republican Party if it does not act soon on immigration reform. Arizona Senator John McCain, the party's presidential nominee in 2008, told Talking Points Memo this week that the party won't win the White House in 2016 if the GOP blocks immigration reform, no matter who the nominee is. That's a telling statement, and an indictment on the current state of Congress.
There are many moving parts to immigration reform and other changes to the system that will help those with criminal matters. Locally, the authorities are easing up on ICE holds by defying the feds. Nationally, the American people want change, but their Republican representatives won't budge. The easiest solution would be for voters in those areas to toss their representatives out of office. But realistically we know that won't happen because 90 percent of House members will be re-elected in November. Perhaps the GOP losing another presidential election will make Republicans take action, but that's two years off. In the meantime, the Obama administration should ease deportations and continue its deferred action for the childhood arrivals program. And more local law enforcement agencies need to stand up to the feds.