Federal immigration agents have returned to Los Angeles County jails to seek out deportable inmates under a new policy by Sheriff Jim McDonnell that has prompted criticism from immigrant advocates who say it could lead to racial profiling, it was reported today.
The new Sheriff’s Department policy comes after county lawmakers voted this year to end a controversial program that allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to work inside the jails to assess the immigration status of inmates.
Now ICE agents are being allowed back inside, but only to interview inmates who have committed serious crimes and are not protected by the California Trust Act, the Los Angeles Times reported in an article posted on its website this morning. That 2013 law limits when local law enforcement officials can collaborate with federal immigration authorities.
Under the new policy, jail officials will also notify ICE up to seven days before those inmates are being released so immigration agents can pick them up and initiate deportation proceedings. The new procedures stand in contrast to those in San Francisco, where lawmakers have banned all sheriff collaboration with immigration officials except when federal authorities have a court order or a warrant.
San Francisco’s policies have been in a spotlight since the July shooting death of a woman on a busy pier, allegedly by a man in the country illegally who had recently been released from local custody. The incident sparked an outcry. Figures as varied as Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for closer collaboration between local police and ICE.
Immigrant advocates, who say such collaboration leads to racial profiling and sows distrust in law enforcement among immigrant communities, say L.A. County’s new policy is a reaction to that pressure, The Times reported.
