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Coalition calls for public oversight in new San Bernardino 287(g) agreement
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PRESS RELEASE
San Bernardino, CA – As the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors prepared today to vote on the county's new 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), members of the Justice for Immigrants Coalition of Inland Southern California, backed by faith leaders, activists, workers and families from around San Bernardino County, spoke out at the meeting in an urgent call for public oversight and a transparent complaint procedure to combat the kinds of civil rights violations and racial profiling that occurred under the previous agreement.
They requested three key amendments to the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that was under consideration: 1) Re-insert a stakeholder/steering committee that has input in the implementation of the MOA with ICE, and that includes community representatives; 2) Assure a consistent and transparent complaint procedure where complaints will be responded to within 30 days; and 3) Eliminate Priority #3 in the Standard Operating Procedure, which focuses on “aliens who have been convicted of or arrested for other offenses,” and instead keep the program focused on serious felony-level criminals as was intended in the program.
“At a time when public oversight is so important to all of us, it is only fair that the public have a greater stake in holding the 287g program accountable to its intentions and goals,” said Moisés Escalante, chair of the Justice for Immigrants Coalition. “The program was never intended to be used against innocent people who have committed no serious crimes and the agreement should be modified to reflect those values.”
287(g) refers to a section of the US Immigration code that allows the federal government to delegate certain immigration enforcement powers to local authorities. The 287(g) program has come under severe criticism this year, both locally and around the nation, because local law enforcement agencies that have been granted powers under the program are using them to target communities of color, including disproportionate numbers of Latinos in particular places, for arrest. Reports of racial profiling and other civil rights abuses by the local law enforcement agencies that have sought out 287(g) powers have compromised public safety, while doing nothing to solve the immigration crisis.
On August 25, over 500 civil rights organizations implored President Obama to end the flawed 287(g) program. On September 28, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus sent a strongly worded letter to the President calling for complete termination of the 287(g) program. In early October 2009, the New York Times published an editorial urging the same. Also in October, DHS released a report on detention conditions and announced its intention to limited subcontracting of immigration detention responsibility. The same report noted that the vast majority of immigrants processed through 287(g) programs were never charged with a criminal offense.
Among those who spoke out during the public comment period were local families, day laborer workers, and other members of the community who have been negatively impacted by San Bernardino’s previous 287(g) agreement and the abuses of its powers by local law enforcement.
“Innocent people have been stopped by the local police for something as simple as a broken tail light or loitering on a sidewalk, transferred to the county jail, put through the 287(g) interview process and deported. Two brothers were arrested for a traffic violation and then detained by ICE in the county jail for two days because they did not speak English,” said Eddie Gonzalez, day laborer organizer in the Inland Empire. He continued, “Does the punishment really fit the so-called ‘crime’?”
The Justice for Immigrants Coalition of Inland Southern California has already submitted a letter to all the members of the Board of Supervisors with the same call for public oversight, and has offered to work with the county and provide any additional information or recommendations needed. They will lead a similar effort in Riverside County, which is also in negotiations to re-sign its 287(g) agreement.
The Justice for Immigrants Coalition of Inland Southern California consists of around twenty groups from all sectors of the community, dedicated to providing direct service to the local immigrant community while working toward a just solution to the broken immigration system that is separating families and punishing hard workers.
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