SAN DIEGO — Harsh words for the San Diego Sheriff and the department from immigration advocates.
The third annual Truth Act forum was held virtually Tuesday night with county board of supervisors and it was the first forum held in the evening to allow more opportunity for community input.
There were 113 speakers signed up to call in and most called on Sheriff Bill Gore to stop transferring inmates to Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Everyone in our community is less safe when community members are transferred to ICE,” Chris Olsen, Director of Public Policy & External Affairs at Jewish Family Services.
The hearing is a called a Truth Act which is part of a state law that requires an annual forum on the sheriff’s report of ICE transfers from the sheriff’s custody.
In 2019, the sheriff reported there were 1,536 ICE release request notifications, 1,086 were rejected and 450 qualified for either crimes of assault, battery, sexual abuse, exploitation, child abuse and endangerment.
That is 65 fewer than 2018. The sheriff says they are acting within the law but wants to work with the community.
“I think there is some misunderstanding. I want to eliminate that misunderstanding. I am prepared to compromise on a lot of these things,” said Sheriff Bill Gore, San Diego Sheriff’s Department.
Immigration advocates take issue with the sheriff’s report.
“It's important to recognize transparency without accountability is not enough,” said Erin Tsurmoto Grassi, Human Rights Advocacy Policy Advisor, Alliance San Diego.
Personal stories from woman who shared how she lost a family member to suicide because the family code was to not call police for help.
“He was a brother and a son and a father and a husband and he was loved and we miss him everyday,” said a caller.
Others worry with COVID-19 cases rampant in detention facilities inmates should not be transferred to another facility.
Critics say by the sheriff’s department posting inmate releases, it’s a loophole around SB-54 which is California’s sanctuary law prohibiting local law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration laws.
“This practice of posting release days invites profiling and creates serious privacy concerns,” said Lillian Serrano, SDIRC Chair and representative of Alianza Comunitaria. “We were here one year ago bringing this to the attention of the community and demanding this stop and sheriff has ignored it.”
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher understands more work needs to be done.
“How do we ensure the trust exists?” asked Fletcher.
More than three hours of discussion and the community remains frustrated with the sheriff’s office working with ICE in any way.
“You are unamerican as they come you've lost your soul along with identity politics and probably never knew what it meant to be a hard-working American,” said a caller.
Before the meeting a caravan of immigration advocates protested in downtown.
To review the sheriff’s Truth Act reports click here.