SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The U.S. Department of Justice is requesting for San Francisco’s Sheriff Paul Miyamoto to release information on all people being held in county jails who are not citizens.
The request could be problematic since San Francisco is a sanctuary city which means it doesn’t cooperate with ICE.
“The letter requested information on any non-citizens that are in our custody. That have criminal charges or convictions and as well if they do have it their date or release,” said SF Sheriff Paul Miyamoto.
In a press release, the U.S Department of Justice requested counties like San Francisco to hand over information to “assist federal immigration authorities in prioritizing the removal of illegal aliens who committed crimes.”
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The request goes on to say that The Department of Justice hopes California sheriffs will voluntarily produce this information, but if necessary “the Department will pursue all available means of obtaining the data, including through subpoenas or other compulsory process.”
Luz Pena: “Does this letter change anything?
Sheriff Miyamoto: “I think, and I can’t speak for the U.S. Attorney General, but it is an attempt to work with us and focusing on individuals with criminal histories as part of their enforcement efforts.”
A letter many heard about as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi recently visited San Francisco’s Alcatraz, where the administration has announced plans to reopen it as a federal prison.
“This is a threat from the White House. This has been the trend that the immigrant legal resource center has been observing, and I think this kind of threat is in response to local policies,” said Sarah Lee, Immigrant Legal Resource Center Senior Community Organize.
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San Francisco became a Sanctuary city in 1989 promising that local and county law enforcement officers would not cooperate with Immigration enforcement officers. Angela Chan with the city’s Public Defenders Office is hoping county officials throughout the state stand their ground.
“Sanctuary cities have an absolute right to just say ‘no’ to request from the federal government with regard with immigrant enforcement because that is a federal responsibility, not a local or state one,” said Chan.
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Sheriff Miyamoto said the names of people in jail are already known to the Department of Justice.
“They already have access to it and that is what we are planning on doing. For the listing, we are literally going to give them a list of individuals who we received detainer holds on in the first place. ICE actually gives us that information because we don’t track people’s immigration status,” said Sheriff Miyamoto.
Sheriff Miyamoto said his deputies do not track who is undocumented and said his office has cooperated with ICE twice is since 2020 when he has been sheriff, both times when the individual had a violent criminal history of convictions.
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