San Diego County’s elected officials are divided over immigration policies. The division comes after the board of supervisors voted Tuesday, Dec. 10, to make the region a “super sanctuary” county.
Officials passed the new policy by a 3-to-1 vote. The legislation prohibits the Sheriff’s Department from cooperating with federal authorities. That includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport migrants, even when they are in custody for committing crimes.
Under current state sanctuary law, there are exceptions for local and federal authorities to work together in cases involving migrants who have committed violent crimes. However, the new policy would limit this cooperation. This would prevent local authorities from alerting federal officials about individuals in custody for crimes.
San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez has indicated that she’ll continue to follow state law but defy the new policy. The sheriff, an independently elected official, stated her office has the authority to share release dates for individuals in custody only if they have qualifying convictions for serious, violent or sex crimes.
Nora Vargas, the county supervisor who introduced the proposal, defended the policy.
“We will not allow our local resources to be used for actions that separate families, harm community trust, or divert critical local resources away from addressing our most pressing challenges,” Vargas said.
However, not all supervisors agreed with the new policy. Jim Desmond was the only supervisor to vote against the measure. He expressed concerns that the new policy could protect criminals rather than prioritize San Diego residents’ safety.
“This proposed legislation to me seeks to prioritize the interest of illegal criminal immigrants over the safety of law-abiding immigrants and citizens,” Desmond said.
Terra Lawson-Remer voted in favor of the policy. She argued that the policy is necessary to encourage residents to report crimes without fear that it would lead to family separation.
“Making sure that people know they can report crimes to the sheriff and don’t need to be concerned that it will immediately trigger deportation strongly outweighs any potential concerns,” she said.
The vote to restrict local authorities’ cooperation with federal immigration officials marks a significant reversal from the Board of Supervisors’ stance in 2018. Six years ago, the Trump administration sued California over its “sanctuary state” laws. The San Diego Board of Supervisors joined the lawsuit, voting 3-to-1 to support the administration’s challenge.
At that time, the supervisors argued California’s sanctuary policies were obstructing communication and cooperation between local and federal law enforcement, particularly regarding the release of undocumented offenders into the community.
The board’s shift in position reflects the evolving nature of immigration policy in the region. The current decision to prohibit local cooperation with federal authorities contrasts with its previous stance under the Trump administration.
In response to the board’s new policy, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, expressed his opposition in a video message. In the video, he stated that the move was out of touch with the views of many Americans.
“This is really super tone-deaf if you consider what happened in the last election,” Wells said. “Most of America wants this border crisis to be resolved.” He also emphasized the responsibility of elected officials to cooperate with federal authorities on immigration enforcement.
As the debate over immigration policies continues to unfold in San Diego, it remains clear that the county’s stance on cooperation with federal authorities is a highly contentious issue, with divided opinions among local officials and the community.
