Laserfiche WebLink
people who have not yet been convicted of any crime (and indeed may be innocent of any <br />crime), or whose only crime may be an immigration violation such as illegal re- entry. Regarding <br />the former, the ordinance seems to throw the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" out the <br />window. <br />The exception at Section 7(f) will effectively swallow the rule for the community members that <br />are most at risk under the incoming Administration. President -Elect Trump has indicated that he <br />intends to move swiftly to deport any immigrants with criminal records (a term he apparently <br />defines extremely broadly), raising renewed concerns about due process and disruption to <br />families. It is worth emphasizing the reality of the immigration system. Under current law, <br />individuals have no right to government- appointed counsel, can be subject to indefinite and <br />mandatory detention, and can face deportation with no opportunity to request relief or return to <br />the United States. <br />Section 7(f) will also put Santa Ana behind other cities that have declared themselves <br />sanctuaries, and soon even the State. The California Values Act introduced by Senator de Leon <br />contains no carve -out for immigrants with pending felony charges or felony convictions. Even <br />California's TRUST Act, enacted several years ago, is more protective than Santa Ana's <br />proposed ordinance. Instead of malting Santa Ana a leader, Section 7(f) will send Santa Ana in a <br />different direction, malting its own immigrant residents less safe than in other places. <br />(3) Section 7 Generally <br />The proposed ordinance also departs from the Sanctuary City Resolution by specifying that the <br />prohibition on the use of City resources to enforce immigration law applies only to civil <br />violations of immigration law. While it is helpful to distinguish administrative warrants and civil <br />immigration detainers issued by ICE from traditional criminal warrants and detainers in Section <br />7(b), since the former do not provide local officers with authority to arrest, in no other place in <br />Section 7 is it necessary to limit prohibited immigration enforcement to that which is "civil" in <br />nature. In fact, qualifying immigration law to mean only "civil" immigration law denies the <br />protections of Section 7 to a group of people who need them. <br />While the act of being present in the United States without status is not a federal crime, it is <br />possible that could change under a new Congress. In addition, other immigration- related actions <br />can be punished criminally under certain law. One example is the act of re- entering the country <br />after a removal order - -even if the prior removal order lacked due process. <br />We urge the City Council to return to the formulation of this language that it had in the <br />Sanctuary City Resolution. We also recommend that the list of prohibited activities include a <br />new item that clarifies that City resources will not be used to "assist with or participate in any <br />