No Sanctuary In Orange County: OCSD Report

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — More than 715 Orange County jail inmates were delivered to immigration authorities last year due to the state's so-called Sanctuary State Law (SB 54), according to data released Wednesday by the Orange County Sheriff's Department. The agency handed off a total of 717 of the county jail's inmates, OCSD Sheriff Don Barnes said.

Though the SB-54 law prevented the sheriff's department from turning over inmates to ICE within the jail, the department posted inmate release dates on the jail website, giving the federal agency a chance to track when an ICE detainee is going to be released and pick them up as they walk out of jail.

"Open communication among law enforcement partners is the best practice for public safety agencies,” said OCSD Sheriff Barnes. “I will continue to exercise my full authority as Sheriff and notify ICE when allowed by law.”

The implementation SB 54 hinders communication and puts the community at risk, according to Barnes.

Last year, ICE agents considered a total of 1,823 of the county's jail inmates as "wanted" by immigration.

The law prevented deputies from notifying ICE of the release of 1,106 of those inmates.

Of those inmates with ICE "detainer" status, 173 were arrested again for 58 types of crime, including attempted murder, assault and battery, child molestation and robbery, according to the sheriff's department.

Of those arrested again in Orange County, four arrests were for attempted murder, 10 for robbery, two each for child molestation and kidnapping, and one each for lewd acts, spousal rape, statutory rape, and child abduction.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department does not know how many were arrested outside the county, they said in a recent release.

Sheriff Don Barnes, who said during his campaign last year that he does not object to other parts of the law, reiterated his opposition to the part of the injunction preventing him from coordinating inmate transfers to ICE.

During the sheriff's campaign last year, when he was the undersheriff, Barnes participated in the making of public service announcement videos with the Mexican Consulate that assured that sheriff's deputies were not enforcing immigration laws.

The PSAs were meant to alert the immigrants living in the country illegally that law enforcement will not arrest them if they report a crime or are the victims of a crime.

"We do not enforce immigration law," Barnes said at a news conference in October. "We have never enforced immigration laws, and we will not enforce immigration law on the street level."

The sheriff then added, "If you call for help, we will be there for you. We will not be subjecting anyone to any inquiry regarding your immigration status."

Supporters of the Sanctuary State law say that local law enforcement helping ICE with immigration arrests scares off undocumented immigrants from reporting crimes.

Barnes, however, said he would continue to advocate for the repeal of the Sanctuary State law.

"Public policy rooted in short-term political goals makes us less safe," he said. "Lawmakers must repeal laws that limit law enforcement's ability to collaborate on shared threats. Let's move beyond politics and let law enforcement (officers) operate under the best practices that have proven to provide a more secure community."