Supervisors stick with lenient Santa Clara County immigration policy

Source: San Jose Mercury News

SAN JOSE -- After listening Tuesday to more than 60 impassioned activists, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to stick to the status quo on immigration, rejecting a proposal to turn over jailed illegal immigrants with a history of serious or violent crime to federal agents for possible deportation.

The proposal by Supervisor Joe Simitian to change the current policy and hold "the worst of the worst" inmates for 24 hours past their release date failed on a 3-2 vote. Only Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who opposed the no-holds policy two years ago on the grounds that public safety is jeopardized by releasing violent felons who could be deported, sided with Simitian.

As a result, Santa Clara County remains one of only a handful of jurisdictions in the country, including Chicago's Cook County, that refuse to hold any inmates unless U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pays for the cost of detaining them -- which ICE refuses to do.

Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who represents heavily Latino District 2, cast the swing vote in favor of one of the nation's most lenient immigration policies. Elected recently on a public safety platform, Chavez said she was "very conflicted" about the issue but believes that holding even an estimated 15 percent of all jailed illegal immigrants for ICE would have a chilling effect on the immigrant community's reporting of crime.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_24460689/supervisors-stick-lenient-santa-clara-county-immigration-policy

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Even San Francisco does detain those immigrants accused of felonies.

Although I support the DREAM Act, this move makes no sense! I think this crime-reporting fear is unfounded, even more than the concerns about labeling GMOs.