News & Commentary

In June, Fresno County Sheriff Mims allowed ICE agents to be stationed inside the local jail, stirring fear in a community she vowed to protect.

Monterey County’s Sheriff Steve Bernal just gave Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) unlimited access to all jail records and detainees… and he did it without even letting the public know.

SB 249 would allow the DMV to issue driver’s licenses that include a tiny RFID chip that broadcasts your personally identifying information.

Whatever your immigration status, you should not be arrested without proper justification. You should not have your home entered or searched without a warrant or other cause. You should not be treated differently because of your race or ethnicity. You should not have a gun pointed at your head for no reason.

The tragic shooting of Kate Steinle in San Francisco has focused national attention on why her accused assailant, Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, was released from the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department’s custody in April and not deported. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and others have rushed to cast blame on the sheriff’s department for Ms. Steinle’s death. But this horrible and apparently random act of violence shouldn’t be used to push a political agenda.

By the time Credy Madrid Calderon fled Honduras and sought asylum in the United States, he had been threatened, shot at and severely beaten by local gangs. Arriving in the United States, however, did not mean sanctuary for Credy. Instead of being reunited with his wife and children, all U.S. citizens, Credy found himself in an immigration jail. He waited there for months, uncertain of whether he would even get the chance to explain to a judge why he faced certain death if he was sent back to Honduras.

Despite the fact that she was pregnant, GEO staff at Mesa Verde Detention Center shackled Monserrat Ruiz Cuevas—handcuffs, ankle cuffs, and waist chain—for a trip to the hospital in a downpour. While getting into the vehicle, Monserrat tripped on the shackles and fell hard on her stomach, unable to break her fall. The very next day, Monserrat began bleeding heavily.

Building security at the San Francisco Immigration Court was forbidding pastors, who participated in the peaceful vigils outside the court, from accompanying families to their immigration court hearings in what we saw as blatant retaliation, even though both activities are strongly protected by the First Amendment. This carried with it serious constitutional implications and took an emotional toll on families fighting for their right to refuge in this country.

Immigration detention centers are notorious for extreme isolation and inhumane conditions. So we were more than concerned when we learned a few weeks ago that ICE wants to send immigrants to a new detention facility that would put their health and wellbeing at risk.