Undocumented Suspects Accused of Violent Crimes After Release by the County

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will discuss at its regular meeting on Tuesday its policy restricting requests by federal immigration officials to hold criminal suspects who are undocumented.

At issue is whether to make changes to the county's law, passed by the board in 2011, over civil detainer requests of criminal suspects in county custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Under the federal Secure Communities program, ICE makes requests to counties and other jurisdictions to hold undocumented criminal suspects in jail up to 48 hours after they were supposed to be released so ICE can arrest them for possible deportation.

County Counsel Orry Korb, in a report included in the board's agenda packet for Tuesday, said ICE started implementing Secure Communities in Santa Clara County in October 2009.

But the county in 2011 adopted a policy, offered by then-Supervisor George Shirakawa, honoring hold requests only if ICE reimburses the county for its costs of holding the suspects. Due to the policy, the county has not honored any ICE hold requests of suspects since Oct. 11, 2011, because ICE has refused to pay county detention costs, according to Korb.

The county's policy also says that in order to be detained for ICE, the suspect must be "convicted of a serious or violent felony offense for which he or she is currently in custody" or "has been convicted of a serious or violent felony within 10 years of the request, or was released after having served a sentence for a serious or violent felony within 5 years of the request, whichever is later," according to Korb.

Korb said that after District Attorney Jeff Rosen recommended changes to the county's civil detainer law in November 2012, the board's Public Safety and Justice Committee asked Korb to set up a committee of public safety and justice officials to review the policy.

Rosen then said he wanted to eliminate the reimbursement requirement and expand the list of criminal acts posing threats to public safety beyond serious and violent felonies, according to Korb. Korb's group analyzed data that revealed that the county had not honored ICE requests on offenders who in fact had committed or been arrested for serious, violent or non-drug crimes, were convicted of multiple drunken driving charges or were validated gang members.

The group learned that as of December 2012, 19 people released without honoring ICE detainer requests had been rearrested after their release for serious or violent offenses, according to Korb.

Group members also considered opinions of members of community and immigration rights organizations in the county who expressed support for keeping the current policy on civil detentions, according to Korb.

Korb stated that the Oct. 5 passage of the state TRUST act has changed the legal landscape for the county. The act permits counties to honor ICE's detainer requests for 48-hour holds of criminals held for probable cause by a magistrate or convicted of one or more of 40 listed crimes, such as burglary, assault and drug trafficking, a federal aggravated felony crime or if they are a registered sex offender.

According to Korb, the new state law "allows counties to honor more detainer requests than the County's existing policy, even assuming ICE reimburses the County."

The TRUST act also bans counties from permitting ICE detainers beyond what the state law permits but can direct "law enforcement officials to comply with detainer requests under fewer circumstances," according to Korb.

But the TRUST act does not require ICE to reimburse counties for the cost of detentions, Korb said.

Rosen, who is expected to attend the board meeting Tuesday, said in a prepared statement that his "approach on civil detainers is simple." "Undocumented individuals arrested or convicted of low level crimes should not be reported to ICE," Rosen said. "Undocumented individuals arrested or convicted of violent offenses, such as robbery, sexual assault and murder, should be reported to ICE."

"Santa Clara County should be a safe haven for law-abiding residents, not gangsters or drunk drivers who hurt innocent people," he said. "This County should not be a safe immigration haven for child molesters and rapists."

"I'm sure there will be a more detailed discussion about specific proposals at Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Supervisors," he said.

Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.