A nationwide clamor against the so-called “Sanctuary Cities” has led Los Angeles County jails to once again allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to seek out deportable inmates.
The new Sheriff’s Department policy, made public Tuesday, 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. 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.
Illegal alien apologists have quickly moved to bash the sensible policy and blame their setback on the efforts of leading GOP Presidential contender Donald Trump
“It appears the ‘Trump Effect’ is now having an impact on Los Angeles County policy,” said Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, who said the new policy “appears politically motivated and impacted by sensationalized tragedy.”
Los Angeles County supervisors bent to pressure from illegal alien backers by voting to ban ICE from many types of typical law enforcement tasks conducted in the jails. These are critical for ICE’s ability to detain and deport the worst criminal elements.
One ICE official said Tuesday that it is important that agents are given access to jails to conduct in-person interviews because fingerprint matching fails to identify inmates who do not have prior immigration-related offenses.
“Computers and electronic fingerprints only go so far,” said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the new policy and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“The advantage of having ICE officers in the jail is we can do face-to-face interviews with people to make sure they are people who we want to pursue.”
Undoubtedly, the politicians on the L.A. County Board will attempt to subvert both ICE and their own Sheriff when it comes to immigration law enforcement.
