At a Tuesday meeting, an immigration ad-hoc committee presented its findings to the Board of Supervisors.
Supervisor Bruce Gibson spoke in favor of clarifying where and when ICE agents are allowed in county-owned spaces.
“ It is a fundamental statement we can make to our immigrant communities, that this Board of Supervisors is standing with them,” Gibson said.
Legally, counties are incredibly limited in their ability to regulate federal agents.
The board could create a policy that says ICE agents aren’t allowed in the non-public parts of county property without a warrant, and that they’re not allowed to “commandeer,” i.e., take control of public spaces for their own use.
The immigration ad-hoc committee, however, found that current county policy already implicitly prohibits that.
Other California counties like Alameda and Los Angeles have created more explicit protocols in case commandeering happens.
Supervisor Heather Moreno said she didn't want to follow their lead, and that actions speak louder than words.
“We need to actually, just with our actions, support what the Sheriff's Office is currently doing, which is not allowing commandeering,” Moreno said.
Board Chair Jimmy Paulding introduced a motion to draft policies that ban commandeering and require a judicial warrant for federal agents to enter non-public county property. It also set aside $100,000 for organizations that serve children of immigrant families.
The motion passed 3-2, with Moreno and Supervisor John Peschong voting no.
As an outcome of meetings with the ad-hoc committee, SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson agreed that his office will now post quarterly data on how many people are transferred from the county jail into ICE custody.
Senate Bill 54 allows local law enforcement to transfer people who’ve been convicted of certain crimes into ICE custody.
At the Tuesday meeting, Commander Sandra Arauza told the board that federal immigration agents will sometimes arrest people who aren’t eligible for transfer under SB 54, by simply waiting until they’re released from the county jail.
“Just like we can go to the website right now and see who's in jail, right? Just like the public can see who's going to be released, so can ICE,” Arauza explained. “That's why we see them outside in the parking lot.”
The immigration ad-hoc committee was created by the Board of Supervisors in late January, after a contentious public meeting where Sheriff Ian Parkinson defended ICE transfers as falling under SB 54.
