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In win for immigrants and the law, Virginia's Fairfax County terminates ICE agreement
More of this!!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/1/25/1735970/-In-win-for-immigrants-and-the-law-Virginia-s-Fairfax-County-terminates-ICE-agreement
In win for immigrants and the law, Virginia's Fairfax County terminates ICE agreement
By Gabe Ortiz
Thursday Jan 25, 2018 · 3:58 PM EST
Virginia Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid has announced that she’s ending an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold immigrants in their custody past their release date for ICE to pick up unless the “request is accompanied by a court-issued criminal detainer.” The announcement comes just weeks after Think Progress found that the sheriff’s office had more than doubled the number of immigrants they held for ICE compared to 2016:
Simon Y. Sandoval-Moshenberg, director of the Legal Aid Justice Center’s Immigrant Advocacy Program in Northern Virginia, called the action “a tremendous step in the right direction.”
Sandoval-Moshenberg and other immigration attorneys have fought against ICE holds, arguing that they violate the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects people from being detained without probable cause.
“It’s pretty clear that to hold someone beyond their release date based solely on an ICE detainer violates law,” he said. “A lot of people don’t believe that having an intergovernmental contract essentially cures that violation of law.”
Sandoval-Moshenberg and other immigration attorneys have fought against ICE holds, arguing that they violate the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects people from being detained without probable cause.
“It’s pretty clear that to hold someone beyond their release date based solely on an ICE detainer violates law,” he said. “A lot of people don’t believe that having an intergovernmental contract essentially cures that violation of law.”
The announcement also comes as Donald Trump and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III have escalated their war on immigrants, issuing threats to so-called “sanctuary cities” for refusing to collaborate with Trump’s racist mass deportation force, often in unconstitutional ways. According to Think Progress, the majority of those held in Fairfax County were from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the first two of which are already Temporary Protected Status (TPS) nations attacked by the administration:
Following criticism from immigration activists, Kincaid notified ICE on Monday that the county intends to terminate the agreement effective May 23 after a required 120-day notice, according to her statement.
Kincaid said the county will honor an ICE request to detain an inmate only if that request is accompanied by a court-issued criminal detainer, a rare occurrence given that most deportations are conducted as civil court proceedings.
In a statement, Sharon Bulova (D), chair of the county board of supervisors, said she was “pleased” with Kincaid’s decision: “The Sheriff and her deputies operate the county jail and are not federal immigration officials.”
Kincaid said the county will honor an ICE request to detain an inmate only if that request is accompanied by a court-issued criminal detainer, a rare occurrence given that most deportations are conducted as civil court proceedings.
In a statement, Sharon Bulova (D), chair of the county board of supervisors, said she was “pleased” with Kincaid’s decision: “The Sheriff and her deputies operate the county jail and are not federal immigration officials.”
