Local jails are increasingly refusing to hold inmates longer for possible deportations
More and more counties and cities across the country are refusing to keep persons booked on criminal charges in jail for extra days so federal authorities can have more time to deport them, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The marked decline of a widespread practice of keeping them in jail a couple of extra days has stemmed from court decisions; state statutes prohibiting the practice; and the cost of so-called “holds.”
“I think there’s momentum,” says Kate Desormeau, a staff attorney with the ACLU who has fought immigration-hold cases in court.
The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, for example, ruled in March that such requests for holds by federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are just that—“requests” not orders—absent a showing of probable cause that the person is in the country illegally.
More than 225 local law enforcement agencies now ignore ICE hold requests and another 25 limit the number of immigration detention requests they will honor. No New Mexico counties do the holds any longer, and in Arizona, South Tucson also is reducing them.
California implemented the Trust Act this year, which says law enforcement agencies can honor immigration holds only if the inmate is charged with or convicted of a serious offense. Colorado this year was the first state to enact a law compelling localities to ignore requests for immigration detainers.
In a prepared statement, ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said the agency will continue to work with local agencies “to enforce its priorities through the identification and removal of convicted criminals and other public safety threats.”
