Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday voted 3-to-2 to cancel a 2005 agreement, known as “287-G,” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to station agency deputies at county jails. The deputies had been permitted to take undocumented inmates into custody before their release to the general public.
Nearly 100 people signed up to give public comment at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, including a man whose son was murdered by an illegal:
Jamiel Shaw, Sr. spoke about his teenage son, who died in 2008 in South LA. Shaw says he learned after the shooting that the man convicted of the crime was in the country illegally and had been released from jail on another charge only 24 hours before killing his son.
“My son would’ve been alive today,” Shaw told the five-member board. “I wouldn’t be here if 287-G was enforced. We don’t want to hear about the sob stories of illegal aliens here working and doing the right thing because that’s not true. Ask people like me, whose family members are in the ground while illegal aliens get privilege for the American dream.”
In spite of Shaw’s and numerous others’ testimonies, the Board of Supervisors voted to kill the program.
Now, it will be up to the LA County Sheriff to determine what happens to undocumented inmates before release:
“This will allow for the Sheriff to negotiate with DHS and ICE regarding when ICE agents, if necessary, can come in and interview,” [Supervisor Hilda] Solis explained, adding that she appreciated the Sheriff’s Department’s willingness to cooperate.
In place of 287-G, the board approved 4-to-1 to adopt the federal Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), which will allow for the jails to alert ICE if an inmate is eligible for deportation based on the inmate’s fingerprint matches.
Will the board regret its decision when another American is murdered?
