San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez said she will not be following new policy from the Board of Supervisors that limits her cooperation with immigration authorities unless they have a warrant signed by a state or federal judge.
State law allows the sheriff’s department to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in certain ways, even without a judicial warrant.
Sheriff Kelly Martinez declined an interview but sent a written statement.
She said she has authority over the jails, not the board, and her office will keep doing what they’ve been doing — letting ICE interview consenting people in their custody with certain convictions, and notifying ICE of upcoming release dates.
Those convictions include things like sexual abuse, child abuse, battery, assault and drug charges.
Martinez said the Sheriff’s Department does not plan to take legal action against the County over the policy.
Board Chair Nora Vargas, who is recovering from vocal surgery, declined an interview. A spokesperson did not answer questions for this story, but sent a link to an opinion column Vargas wrote prior to the vote.
Immigrant rights advocates pointed out a line in the law that suggests Martinez’s refusal to follow the new policy violates the state law.
"A law enforcement official shall have discretion to cooperate with immigration authorities only if doing so would not violate any federal, state, or local law, or local policy," the California law says.
"The sheriff has the discretion to cooperate with local law enforcement if, only if, it doesn't violate any state policy or local policy," said Ian Seruelo, a local immigration attorney and chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium (SDIRC). "In this case, there is a local policy that was set through that board resolution."
SDIRC sent a letter explaining this to the sheriff, and Seruelo said they also sent a copy to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Martinez said they coordinate with ICE, within state law, for public safety.
"Sheriff Martinez does not believe this process is overly burdensome on her staff," a spokesperson said by email, "nor does it spend taxpayer money unnecessarily. In fact, the enhanced community safety by not returning criminal offenders to the community is returned tenfold in reduced victimization and harm to our communities."
"If they are able to show a warrant signed by a judge, that’s not a problem," Seruelo said.
He pointed to research showing crime is lower in places that don’t fully cooperate with ICE.
"Trust between the community and the police will only happen if there's trust in the community — that the community knows — that if they report (crime), it's not going to result to them being deported," he said.
He said the SDIRC is ready to support a lawsuit over Martinez’s refusal if necessary.
