City officials have vowed not to cooperate with heightened immigration policies from the White House, but law enforcement in Sacramento County are singing a different tune.
"Sacramento County — at least insofar as the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department is concerned — is NOT a true sanctuary jurisdiction,” Sheriff Scott Jones said in a statement on Wednesday, the same day Mayor Darrell Steinberg took a hard stance against President Donald Trump's new executive orders on immigration.
Steinberg said he will abide by Sacramento's 1985 'sanctuary city' ordinance, prohibiting police from questioning anyone on their legal status.
Two immigration-related executive orders signed Wednesday clamp down on so-called 'sanctuary cities' with the threat of taking away federal funding.
“We’re against anything that would withhold funding. We don’t support that,’’ Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, told USA Today.
For example, the Sacramento Police Department got a nearly $2 million federal grant in 2015 to fund the hiring of 15 officers. That money would be on the line under the new federal rules.
Sheriff Jones said his department never checks or asks about the immigration status of people. "Our primary interest is ensuring that crime victims and those needing our services are comfortable and confident when calling the Sheriff’s Department for help," his statement continued.
County jails do allow Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) place detainers on inmates for tracking and statistical purposes, Jones said, but inmates are not held in custody longer than they otherwise would be because of detainers.
However, Jones said ICE is considered a "partner agency."
We DO allow ICE agents inside our facilities to access our data and inmate population so they can carry out their mission, and cooperate with them the same as any other law enforcement partner. ICE agents are regularly inside our facilities for this purpose
