HomeMy WebLinkAboutEmail - Butte County as a Sanctuary County Menchaca, Clarissa
From: Snyder,Ashley
Sent: Friday, March 3, 2017 9:06 AM
To: Menchaca, Clarissa
Subject: FW: Upcoming Board Meeting -Agenda - Butte County as Sanctuary County
This already went to the Board - correspondence
Ashl,eU N. SoUder
Assistant Clerk of the Board
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From: Sweeney, Kathleen
Sent:Thursday, March 02, 2017 2:21 PM
To: Hahn, Paul <PHahn@buttecounty.net>; Snyder,Ashley<ansnyder@buttecounty.net>
Subject: FW: Upcoming Board Meeting-Agenda - Butte County as Sanctuary County
FYI
Kathleen Sweeney
Executive Assistant to Supervisor Maureen Kirk
Butte County -District 3 Office
196 Memorial Way
Chico CA 95926
530.891.2800
From: Holley Law [mailto:andrew(a)holley-law.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2017 1:20 PM
To: Connelly, Bill; Wahl, Larry; Kirk, Maureen; BOS District 4; Teeter, Doug
Subject: Upcoming Board Meeting - Agenda - Butte County as Sanctuary County
Butte County Board of Supervisors:
My name is Andrew Holley and I am a private practice immigration attorney located in
Chico. My practice focuses solely on representing immigrants - both documented and otherwise -
in immigration and criminal proceedings. I studied and graduated from Santa Clara School of
Law in 2010, have been admitted to the California State Bar in 2010, and have been
representing immigrants in law in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and for the past 3 years in Chico.
There have been many developments in the state regarding immigrants in the past few years, as
well as local developments that have occurred in nearby cities and counties in the past
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few months. I recently learned that the discussion of Butte County as a Sanctuary County has
been "agendized" for the upcoming Board meeting on March 14th. I plan to attend and request
an opportunity to speak briefly regarding immigration laws and court rulings at both the State
and Federal level. I believe my knowledge and experience is unique to the local area, and could
provide some insight into the current legal framework that any ordinance must take into account
before passing a resolution.
I appreciate this opportunity and will treat it with respect to all parties and views.
Chico City Council recently discussed the matter at a public forum, and the event was not a
fruitful one for either side. Attached is a commentary I wrote to the local media and the Council
after the event. Perhaps we can use it as a jumping off point for discussion at the upcoming
Board meeting.
Thank you.
Andrew Holley
Attorney for Immigrants
30 Independence Circle, Suite 400
Chico, California 95973
Follow us on Facebook
www.holley-law.com
(530) 715-2300
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As an involved member of the immigrant community, I learned of the recent Chico City Council
meeting involving the request to discuss Chico as a sanctuary city. I was not able to attend
because I had hearings in San Francisco Immigration Court for the past three days so I only
know what I read and heard from local news stories and friends who were there. If those stories
are correct, it sounds like they were a few mistakes made by both sides.
First of all, there needs to be a little bit of legal background, something that those petitioning the
Chico City Council may have missed. In 1989, San Francisco became one of the first sanctuary
cities in the United States. The idea was that San Francisco - through it's local law enforcement
and jails - would restrict cooperation with immigration enforcement (ICE), and limit its ability
notify, hold, or handover undocumented immigrants who ICE may want to take into custody. In
2013, San Francisco strengthened its policy and completely stopped working with ICE regarding
incarcerated immigrants its county jail. This policy may have played a part in the 2015 murder
of 25-year-old Katherine Steinle, a tourist who was shot in the middle of the day on the
Embarcadero, a popular destination in the City. She was murdered by an undocumented
immigrant who had recently been detained in San Francisco County Jail for violent crimes, but
was released and not handed over to ICE, who would have surely sought to deport him.
In 2014, California adopted the TRUST Act (AB 4). The TRUST Act adopted the ideas of San
Francisco. Proponents of the TRUST Act had been pushing for years for California to adopt a
state-wide policy and prohibit county jails to cooperate with ICE for any reason, similar to San
Francisco's strengthened policy. However, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed prior versions of the
proposed legislation because there are some violent and dangerous convicted immigrants that -
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rightfully so - ought to be removed from the United States. Thus, the enacted 2014 version gives
local law enforcement and county jail officials the discretion to to notify ICE only if the crime
involving the undocumented immigrant meets a certain threshold. For example, the law
enforcement official has discretion to notify ICE if the individual has been convicted of a felony,
or a wobbler crime involving violence, drugs, or theft. The TRUST Act takes away from local law
enforcement the discretion to notify ICE for insignificant misdemeanors. The TRUST Act has
been considered a success and is binding on all 58 counties in California.
Moreover, the 2013 Supreme Court decision involving local Arizona law enforcement and their
authority in regards to arrests of immigrants prohibits local law enforcement from enforcing
immigration laws and from stopping, detaining, or arresting people on suspicion or knowledge of
being in violation of Immigration Laws. Every police department in the United States is bound
by this ruling, and is prohibited from stopping people simply on the suspicion of being
undocumented.
Finally, as an immigration attorney whose sole practice focuses on assisting immigrants -
undocumented and otherwise - I have found Butte County, and Chico in particular, to already be
a safe place for undocumented immigrants, especially relative to the nearby counties. Local law
enforcement agencies have gladly assisted my office many times, and have proved to me to have
an honest and sympathetic disposition towards undocumented immigrants.
Now on to what happened at Chico City Council meeting. If the petitioners who want Chico to
become a Sanctuary City wanted this ordinance to pass, the first phone call they should have
made should have been to the Butte County sheriff and District Attorney. The reason is these
are the two local law enforcement entities that determine who is charged with crimes, who will
be held in jail under suspicion for crimes, and who will be communicating with ICE regarding
undocumented immigrants in their custody. It appears from news reports that neither the
District Attorney, Butte County Jail, nor the Chico Police Department were contacted nor sought
after by the petitioners for their insight or potential teamwork.
On the other hand, the majority members of the Council not even discussing the matter at hand -
especially when there were so many people present and part of a coordinated effort to have the
matter discussed - was a bad look for the majority of the city council members. As elected
representatives of the community, it would be a much better response to have at least discuss
the matter, or put it on the agenda for a later date.
In conclusion, I applaud the students and community organizers, for their community
involvement and passion for making Chico a symbolically safe place for immigrants. But the
reality is Chico is already a safe place, and I would not anger those who we need to appeal to by
lashing out. I encourage them to do a little bit more research next time and reach out to other
community members and public organizations who would have insight and a stake in any
changes regarding local undocumented immigrants.
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