LOS ANGELES – A dozen prosecutors from across California, including Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, sent a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, asking the federal government to stop its agents from making immigration arrests at local courthouses.
The letter was sent in support of California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who first raised the issue in March in a letter to the Trump administration.
The letter followed a report by the Los Angeles Times that found Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in California, Arizona, Texas and Colorado are arresting immigrants in the country illegally at courthouses. [Read The Times article here.]
ICE officials defended the tactic, saying they make arrests in courthouses only when all other options have been exhausted, according to The Times.
Cantil-Sakauye wrote that she worried about the “impact on public trust and confidence in our state court system if the public feels that our state institutions are being used to facilitate other goals and objectives, no matter how expedient they may be.”
Lacey was joined by 11 other prosecutors who signed the letter, including Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert, Santa Monica City Attorney Joseph Lawrence and Burbank City Attorney Amy Albano.
“ICE courthouse arrests make all Californians less safe. These practices deter residents concerned about their immigration status from appearing in court — including as crime victims and witnesses — jeopardizing effective prosecution of criminals who may then re-offend,” the letter said.
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callingitasitis says
Your advocating non-enforcement of our federal laws? Laws that have been on the books for how long? So, CALL your senators let them know how you feel and ask them to change the laws. As you know Obama deported more people than Bush. So, you are saying Obama’s actions wrong??????????. From the tax and spend group thought police concern about taxpayer’s money, LOL. =)
Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Mark Twain
Tim Scott says
Just out of curiosity, who are you babbling at? No one in the article or comments has said a single word about “not enforcing federal laws.” Are you just arguing with shadows or something?
rl says
Sounds like he is a Racist Trump supporter.
Deport crimimals like Rapists, child molesters, murderers,felons not hard working people that are here to have a better life for them and there family it’s 2017 These races bastards Need to get all that hate out of there life’s
callingitasitis says
§3559. Sentencing classification of offenses
(a) Classification.-An offense that is not specifically classified by a letter grade in the section defining it, is classified if the maximum term of imprisonment authorized is-
(1) life imprisonment, or if the maximum penalty is death, as a Class A felony;
(2) twenty-five years or more, as a Class B felony;
(3) less than twenty-five years but ten or more years, as a Class C felony;
(4) less than ten years but five or more years, as a Class D felony;
(5) less than five years but more than one year, as a Class E felony;
(6) one year or less but more than six months, as a Class A misdemeanor;
(7) six months or less but more than thirty days, as a Class B misdemeanor;
(8) thirty days or less but more than five days, as a Class C misdemeanor; or
(9) five days or less, or if no imprisonment is authorized, as an infraction.
You are correct first time offense is a misdemeanor but subsequent acts are not, but both are criminal offenses under federal law. 18 USC 3559
http://uscode.house.gov
Knowledge is like money: to be of value it must circulate, and in circulating it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value.
Louis L’Amour
Tim Scott says
So, once again:
Dingbat Don has lead all of you on a wild chase about the “horrors” of these villainous misdemeanor offenders not receiving instantaneous justice. He wants to spend trillions of dollars on prevention of a misdemeanor. He wants to make our residents less inclined to work with our law enforcement in preventing and prosecuting dangerous felons…because misdemeanors. He wants to overturn the law prohibiting local and state law enforcement agencies from enforcing immigration law…because misdemeanors.
And just about every day there is a Dingbat Don supporter posting something about “enforcing the law” while calling for the exact opposite. If it weren’t such a sad display of ignorance of the subject they are blatting about it would be even funnier than it is.
Kate says
… courtesy of Barackus Hedontreallylikeus, the de facto United States Sanctuary City bill = a free luncheon buffet, a free-cell phone, free welfare, free healthcare, free housing, and a free bus ride for every undocumented Mexican, from the Mexican border to any one of 24 sanctuary cities in America. You’re the one who has to pay. You have no say, in any of this, whatsoever –
Tim Scott says
Well, since it’s your fantasy why would anyone else have a say in it?
OneWorld says
I say we just let every single person on this planet come to the USA. Let it all fall apart.
Tim Scott says
What makes you think they all want to? Heck, we did the biggest thing we could do to make the US unattractive when we elected Dingbat Don. There’s probably more people who want to leave than want to come here at this point.
Judge Dredd says
The only thing that matters is……the Law.
Tim Scott says
Agreed. Now, what does the law actually SAY about selective enforcement regarding misdemeanor crimes? Here’s a good starting point for you: look at cases where harassment was determined by a court to have occurred.
There are local cops that hate me. But they know the law, and understand that if they have a citation book that only has half a dozen jaywalking citations in it and they were all written to me they are opening themselves to question. If it is then determined that in most of those cases I was picked out of a crowd of fellow jaywalkers they would really be leaving no doubt as to the answers and they would be found guilty of harassment.
So, let’s take a look at this “enforcement of the law” that Trump is prioritizing. Do you think that devoting a large additional slice of the federal budget to jaywalking prevention is called for? I’m guessing no. But what makes illegal entry, which is also a misdemeanor, so vastly different in how people think it needs to be responded to? Are we out rounding people up under the “well, you were a teen aged jaywalker way back in the day” banner?
Those cops that hate me would tell you that picking this particular misdemeanor out as the one you want enforcement to target is something you ONLY want to do if you can successfully demonstrate that your reasoning is SOMETHING OTHER THAN “well, the offenders there are mostly brown.” Note the “successfully demonstrate.” I’m not saying the motive IS to target the brown people. I’m pointing out that LEGALLY you need to be able to show that it IS something else.
Ron says
THE LAW IS THE LAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We now have a President that follows it.
Tim Scott says
LOL…he hasn’t displayed even a cursory knowledge of it, and that’s gonna continue to make it tough for him to follow it.
Ron says
BUILD THE WALL DEPORT If local offiicals dont want to follow the Fed.Laws they should be fired and arrested. GO TRUMP!!!!!!!!!!!
Tim Scott says
LOL…just how many times do you need it explained?
There is NO LAW, federal or otherwise, requiring ANYONE other than designated federal agents to enforce immigration laws.
What you are continuously saying is “if local officials don’t do they should be fired and arrested.” The fact that you keep spouting this totalitarian propaganda is a bit of a concern.
Bing says
ILLEGAL’S ARE AN EASY TARGET TO USE BECAUSE THEY CAN THREATEN THEM WITH DEPORTATION OR WHAT HAVE YOU IF THEY REFUSE TO DO WHAT THEIR BEING WANTED TO DO, WHICH CAN BE A WHOLE LOT OF CRIMES OR EVEN MADE TO MAKE FALSE ALLEGATIONS OR TESTAMONIES IN COURT AND THREATEN THEM. WITH DEPORTATION IF THEY DON’T. I SAY….OBEY THE LAW!! SO PEOPLE CAN’T GET AWAY WITH USING AN ILLEGAL ALIEN TO DO SOMETHING WRONG.
TO MUCH BULLSHISH GOING ON, AND THIS NEEDS TO BE STOPPED. ASAP
Charlie J Franklin says
I don’t find any reason to trust anything that is likely to be in alignment with a Trump (Racist) agenda. We know the real intentions.
We know the tactics much too well to be fooled or blinded by bigotry. !!!
April says
Obama deported more illegals than any other president, but no one called him a racist. And if you illegally go into Mexico, they don’t deport you, you are imprisoned for a minimum of 2 years.
Let ICE do they're job says
So local authorities don’t want to do feds job of arresting illegals and they are mad when the feds do it themselves? It’s not like they are arresting all illegals. They are arresting illegals that have a specific reason to be wanted by ICE.
BobM says
Exactly. Illegal is illegal. Illegal felons get arrested and deported by ICE.
Exactly as it should be.
Good job President Trump!
Tim Scott says
Illegal entry isn’t a felony.
Abcd says
Correct, that’s why they don’t go to Federal Prison or have a felony attached to their identity…duh
Tim Scott says
LOL…I always find it hilarious when someone acts like they are being sarcastic when they agree with something that is actually true. It makes them look so obviously silly.
8 US Code, 1325:
“Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.”
Notice that “shall be charged with a felony” is notably absent there. Illegal entry is a misdemeanor. Yes, if the person charged and convicted is sentenced to imprisonment they will in fact serve their time in a federal prison, because this is federal law. No, they won’t “have a felony attached to their identity, duh,” since they didn’t commit one.
Dingbat Don and his stormtroopers are acting like big heroes for rounding up the legal equivalent of jaywalkers.