[migrawatch-public] County sanctuary proposed (Modesto BB)

Check out the Modesto Brown Berets! Orale! Mexicah Tiahui!
paz,
Ramiro

County sanctuary proposed
Latino advocacy group calls for pass on immigration law

By EVE HIGHTOWER
ehightower@modbee.com <mailto:ehightower@modbee.com>

/Last Updated: June 23, 2007, 05:54:24 AM PDT/

A civil rights group called the Brown Berets wants Stanislaus County to
be an "immigrant sanctuary."

The Brown Berets wants:

The county to stop working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Law enforcement to stop asking about people's legal status.

The county to notify the Brown Berets and other community groups when
federal agents are in the area so the groups can advise illegal immigrants.

The Brown Berets is a Latino rights advocacy group that grew out of the
civil rights movement of the 1960s. The Modesto Brown Berets' motto is
"Culture, Community, Revolution."

Making Stanislaus County a sanctuary "would make certain that those who
are living here are no longer treated like animals, being forced to live
underground by the fear of deportation," said Brown Berets member
Ricardo Gil Jr. He runs the activist Web site aztlanrising.com that has
organized immigration protests.

The Brown Berets sent a copy of its proposed ordinance to each county
supervisor.

County Chief Executive Officer Rick Robinson declined the group's
request this week, encouraging it to work with federal representatives
instead.

In a phone interview, Robinson said immigration is beyond the
supervisors' authority and the ordinance would limit the county.

"Counties don't make laws that would override federal and state laws,"
he said. "With this (ordinance), local government officials would be
precluded from cooperating with ICE. That's certainly not good pol-icy."

The Brown Berets then submitted their request to Modesto City Council
members Wednesday.

City Manager George Britton, who hadn't seen the request, said it could
be discussed during a meeting if the group asks the city clerk to put
the proposal on the council agenda.

If the council were to pass the ordinance, it wouldn't be the first to
do so. Some cities already have achieved sanctuary status.

In May, the Watsonville City Council agreed to the group's three points.
In April, San Francisco and Oakland reaffirmed their pledges that no
city em-ployee will participate in federal immigration raids. They have
been sanctuaries for 21 years.

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Denver also are among a
growing list of cities large and small that claim immigrant sanctuary
status by, to some extent, protecting immigrants labeled "illegal" by
federal law. Most commonly, sanctuary cities agree not to ask people
about their immigration status.

*Deputies don't routinely ask*

Sheriff Adam Christianson said Stanislaus County deputies don't
routinely ask about people's status.

"Our investigators aren't worried about immigration status," he said.
"They're worried about protecting everyone," he said.

The Brown Berets also want Stanislaus County to cease working with ICE.

"We currently have an ICE agent assigned to our county and work closely
with him and are happy to do so," said Chief Dep-uty District Attorney
John Goold.

That relationship does not include helping with raids.

"Our resources are stretched thin trying to catch real criminals," Goold
said.

While immigration enforcement isn't local agencies' responsibility, they
can cross-designate deputies to function as ICE agents. Christianson
said he isn't interested in doing that with deputies on the street.

"It's not my job," he said, adding that he doesn't care about people's
immigration status unless they're in jail.

Brown Berets also wants the county to notify groups when ICE is in the
area. Christianson said that's not his responsibility either.

Local agencies may not know when ICE is in the area, said Modesto police
Sgt. Craig Gund-lach.

"They have federal jurisdiction. They don't have a duty to notify us or
anyone of what they are doing," he added.

*Bee staff writer Eve Hightower can be reached at 578-2382, or
ehightower@modbee.com <mailto:ehightower@modbee.com>.*

_______________________________________________
Public_announce mailing list
Public_announce@migrawatch.org
http://migrawatch.org/mailman/listinfo/public_announce_migrawatch.org