OC SHERIFF’S REVIEWING ICE DETAINER POLICY WHILE SANTA ANA RESIDENT SAMUEL SIXTOS GOMEZ STILL FACING DEPORTATION

Press Statement For Immediate Release June 6th, 2014 Media Contact: Alexis Nava Teodoro 714-574-6540 alexis@theiyc.org alexis@youthinresistance.org  ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF’S REVIEWING ICE DETAINER POLICY WHILE SANTA ANA RESIDENT SAMUEL SIXTOS GOMEZ STILL REMAINS IN DETENTION FACING DEPORTATION Orange County, CA—Yesterday, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) announced effective immediately that they will no longer hold “pre-sentenced” inmates on ICE Detainers beyond any release date/time. This announcements comes following a similar statement made by the Orange County Probation Department (OCPD) and in light of an Oregon federal district court’s decision, Miranda Olivares v. Clackamas County, 2014 WL 1414305 (D. Ore. April 11, 2014), “which concluded that an ICE detainer, without a determination of probable cause, is not legally sufficient to hold an inmate beyond his or her sentence ending date.” However, OCSD and the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) recently turned over Samuel Sixtos-Gomez, a Santa Ana father of a U.S. citizen daughter and potential candidate for Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, absent a major criminal record and in violation of the TRUST Act. As an immigrant rights organization and the only one that stops deportations in Orange County, we were deeply alarmed by the high number of ICE detainers that were issued to youth with only juvenile records in Orange County, California, where local probation officers were referring minors for deportation at rates much higher than anywhere else in the state. Although the OCPD has modified their internal procedure several times since 2012, we are still alarmed that key language in the current procedure still requires the intake probation officer (IPO) to inquire about and investigate the immigration status of a minor in custody and also requires the IPO to notify ICE if the minor is a “suspected foreign national.” Aside from the procedure in question, OCPD continues to violate state confidentiality laws by sharing the information of minors with ICE. Simultaneously, OCSD will continue to refer people to ICE prior to or the day of their release date. The Secure Communities program is still in place in Orange County, which is one way that ICE and local law enforcement agencies share information. In addition, OCSD continues to have a 287(g) and Inter-Governmental Service Agreements (IGSA’s) with ICE. These policies which create the Pol(ICE) also known as the “poli-migra” in Orange County, continue to terrorize our communities. As RAIZ, we believe that this relationship between federal immigration agencies and local law enforcement agencies is unconstitutional. This is why we will continue to organize in our communities and in the county and continue to push for an end to the Pol(ICE) and an end to deportations all over nation.