A group of protesters and faith leaders held vigil in front of the Sonoma County Adult Detention Facility to draw attention to something that is becoming rare among Bay Area communities.
On Sunday afternoon, protesters gathered at the Sonoma County jail. As tensions in Minneapolis are ratcheted up, so has the debate across America about United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions.
That includes Sonoma County, a place where supervisors have, so far, been resistant to declaring a sanctuary designation.A group of protesters and faith leaders held vigil in front of the Sonoma County Adult Detention Facility to draw attention to something that is becoming rare among Bay Area communities.'Here in this county, our law enforcement are collaborating with Immigration Customs Enforcement,' said Rev. Lindsey Bell-Kerr, Pastor at Christ Church, United Methodists. 'So, we're here at the jail today because this is ground zero for the sanctuary work in Sonoma County.'Vigil organizers said the sheriff's department has been offering information to ICE about the release dates and times of people being detained in the jail. The county has confirmed that, saying out of 484 requests from ICE, the sheriff gave information in 64 cases, resulting in 10 ICE arrests on the jail grounds.'We think that this is egregious,' said Renee Saucedo with the Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition, 'especially because this level of collaboration causes extreme mistrust in immigrant communities. And, importantly, right now reporting people to ICE could mean that people will be injured, minimally, or even killed.'The recent violence in Minneapolis has turned up the heat on the issue, with President Trump threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act for even more aggressive action. In Sonoma, the Board of Supervisors has resisted a call to declare the county a sanctuary. In a public letter on her website, Supervisor Lynda Hopkins explains that the board doesn't have control over the actions of the sheriff's department and expressed concerns about the federal government's threat to pursue legal action and increased enforcement against sanctuary jurisdictions. 'I can't vote for an ordinance that amounts to an empty promise,' she wrote. 'I can't do something that looks good on paper but doesn't result in action and, worse, may cause harm.''I think there's a sense that they want to kind of keep their head down so they don't draw the attention of the administration. And it's too late for that,' said Rev. Benjamin Broadbent, with the Community Church of Sebastopol. 'The administration's intent is clear. They're going to enter every community and they're going to terrorize the citizenship. They're not going after a small group of people. They're generally going after people who they think don't belong here.'The protesters say what they're asking for is in line with California policy and would ensure that local law enforcement no longer participate in the detainment or transfer of individuals to ICE. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has reissued and expanded a list of sanctuary communities it will be focusing on, and Sonoma County seems to want to avoid that fight. But the advocates say the fight has already begun and that remaining neutral is no longer an option
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