A coalition of local activist groups released a statement asking San Luis Obispo County to declare a public safety emergency due to a surge of ICE arrests in the region and in light of the recent killing of 37-year-old Renee Macklin Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
Signatories include Indivisible San Luis Obispo County, SLO 50501 and the Cal Poly Democratic club.
The statement asks the Board of Supervisors to adopt an ordinance that would make county-owned property like the courthouse and jail "ICE-free zones." The ordinance would “bar federal immigration agents from entering non-public areas of SLO County property without a judicial warrant…”
The press release also requests that the SLO County sheriff apologize for posting a video online of an altercation between ICE agents and protestors at the SLO County Jail.
At a recent SLO County Board of Supervisors meeting, multiple public comments were made asking for restrictions on ICE’s access to public spaces, especially the county jail, which is operated by the Sheriff’s Office.
Supervisor Bruce Gibson responded by calling recent ICE actions inhumane and illegal.
“I do believe it is the responsibility of the sheriff as a separately countywide elected official to document his actions and justify his actions,” Gibson said.
In a panel last November, Sheriff Ian Parkinson said that the SLO County Sheriff’s Office had released 21 people to ICE custody, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
The SLO County Board of Supervisors will hold a TRUTH Act meeting on the sheriff’s cooperation with ICE on January 27.
An ordinance that limits federal immigration agents’ access to county buildings and facilities was adopted in San Mateo County last year.
