287(g) should not be renewed

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department wants to renew its contract with the federal government allowing its agents to identify deportable individuals in jail and have them picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors should reject this request, as it gives undue authority to a county police department. Moreover, theimproper use of this discretionary power has not led to the imprisonment and deportation of”immigration violators who pose a threat to national security and public safety,” as the official mission statement claims.

The operation of the 287(g) program was explained by LosAngeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Nicole Nishida: “When we start the process of releasing you, we notify ICE… and the ICE bus comes and picks you up.”

We do not believe it is a good idea for a police officer in a jail to decide who deserves to be deported at the time of their release. Not everyone who ends up in jail is a dangerous criminal; there are innocent people as well. It is with good reason that people are considered innocent until proven guilty. People are also arrested on minor charges, by overzealous police officers, and for many other reasons.

Furthermore, the fact that such authority is in the hands of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, under investigation for abuses and irregularities, does not inspire confidence.

The fundamental principle of justice that it is better to let one guilty person go free than imprison an innocent one does not exist for the undocumented.

The past implementation of both 287 (g) and Secure Communities—the program that was to replace it as a better and more economical alternative—has led to the separation of families, attempts to deport street vendors and others who cannot be classified as public menaces.

It is hard to imagine the decision-making process of an agent who calls ICE for an elderly woman street vendor.

The 287 (g) program grants immigration decision-making and discretionary powers that police officers should not have. This type of collaboration has already demonstrated its failures and harm and should not be renewed by the supervisors