ICE will target California neighborhoods in wake of state’s new sanctuary law
The head of the federal deportation agency said Friday his agents will now have to go out into communities in California even more frequently to round up illegal immigrants, now that the state has embraced a full sanctuary policy.
Tom Homan, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, made the comments a day after California Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB54 into law, canceling almost all cooperation state and local authorities can give to federal deportation officers.
He said the effect could be even more rank-and-file illegal immigrants snared because federal officers will now have to operate out in the community, rather than focus chiefly on prisons and jails.
“ICE will have no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community,” Mr. Homan warned.
Thanks to the law’s restrictions on the ability of the private prison industry to hold illegal immigrants in California, Mr. Homan said his agency will also have to ship those being detained to facilities outside the state, making it even tougher for their families to visit them.
