Ventura County coalition seeks end to sheriff’s cooperation with federal immigration officials

At a community forum Tuesday about how local law enforcement has provided information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Oxnard resident Josué Vásquez said the agency's practices have led to the separation of community members and their families.

"Mixed-status families deserve to stay together," Vásquez said during the Ventura County Board of Supervisors hearing. "Ventura County is what they call home and home is here.”

He was one of about 30 speakers at the forum required under the Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds or TRUTH Act. Since 2018, the act mandates that a local governing body convene at least one such forum if law enforcement has given ICE access to an individual during the last year. The meeting is meant to share information with the public and to receive and consider public comment.

Assistant Sheriff Jose Rivera, who oversees patrol operations, spoke about the extent of the department’s interaction with ICE, presenting on behalf of Sheriff Jim Fryhoff, who was unavailable. Rivera laid out statistics from the last three years.

In 2022, out of 22,065 inmates booked in the Ventura County jail, the sheriff’s office received detainer requests by ICE for 796 inmates. That represents about 3.6% of the population.

Following the requests, 144 notifications were made to ICE regarding inmates that fit the criteria for a qualifying crime under SB 54, the law that states when it may be permissible for law enforcement to notify ICE. That resulted in 15 pickups by ICE, according to Rivera.

In 2022, there were eight requests from ICE for interviews with inmates in the sheriff’s custody. Out of these, one agreed to speak with an attorney present, one agreed to speak without an attorney present and six refused interviews.

“Inmates are never held for additional time in order for ICE to arrive,” Rivera said. “We do work with our Public Defender’s office … so they can also do a review to ensure that those crimes do qualify under SB 54.”

Deputy Public Defender Brooke Lautz said in an interview Wednesday, that “SB 54 is not just about handing over the bad guys.

“It's also about protecting people who have made mistakes. And just because an immigrant has been convicted of an offense under the California Penal Code, does not erase their humanity,” she said.

Lautz also spoke at the forum on Tuesday as a member of the public and presented on behalf of a coalition at last year's forum. The coalition, called ICE Out of Ventura County, is a group of 24 community organizations working to end cooperation between the Ventura County sheriff's office and ICE.

The data shared by the assistant sheriff prompted Supervisor Jeff Gorell to ask about why the number of pickups was fairly low compared to the number of notifications sent to ICE.

The sheriff’s Legal Unit Supervisor Tracy Martinez-Aguilar responded that ICE agents usually don’t live locally and because releases often happen over the weekend, they wouldn’t travel out of the way for pickups.

She noted that there was an injunction against ICE picking up in 2021 and the numbers are generally lower for that year.

Chief Probation Officer Gina Johnson, whose department supervises 5,000 adult and juvenile offenders, said her agency does not share information related to immigration enforcement.

"In 2022, there were zero instances whereby probation agency personnel shared residence information with federal ICE agents,” she said.

Johnson added that the department also receives inquiries as to whether individuals are on probation or not and will share that information about the current status for adults because that is public information, but not for juveniles.

Willie Lubka, a Thousand Oaks resident, spoke on behalf of ICE Out of Ventura County on Tuesday. He said that the sheriff could decide to end cooperation with ICE as many other counties have done. No law requires it, he said.

Other California counties where sheriff’s or jail’s policies no longer honor ICE detainers include Sonoma, Napa, Sacramento, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Diego, according to the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Center for Immigration Studies.

Lubka also shared the coalition’s concerns about family separation, intergenerational trauma and distrust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement. He also spoke about ICE’s human rights violations and questionable practices across the country, including a case against ICE’s practice of impersonating police officers.

He added that they had a three-hour meeting with Fryhoff a few weeks ago where the sheriff “really listened.”

Many of the speakers were part of the coalition and were given a chance to share their stories. Nicolette Walker-Itza, a domestic violence survivor, shared her personal experience.

“I did not report because my partner was undocumented. I knew that my choice to report had larger repercussions," she said. "Even though I wanted the abuse to stop, I wasn’t able to report with a good conscience knowing that he would be taken over to ICE."

Onyx Starrett noted that this year’s presentation had less detail on qualifying crimes for ICE notifications.

“We have less transparency this year than in the past,” said Starrett, who is an immigration attorney and deputy public defender.

A member of the Mixteco Indígena Community Organizing Project, Anastasio Espinoza, questioned the deportation of Indigenous people in Ventura County.

“You were immigrants. Who kicked you out? No one. You came to the Americas,” said Espinoza, who said he also spoke last year. “You came to our land. We did not draw the line. You drew the line. We didn’t deport you. So why are you deporting our communities?”

Supervisor Vianey Lopez acknowledged her own immigrant status and fortune in being able to find a path to citizenship. She said that she felt hopeful about the communication taking place between the sheriff’s office and the coalition.

“This is an issue that is very close to me,” she said. “We can do better to ensure that we maintain a balance between maintaining public safety but also addressing and meeting the needs of our families and the fear that they live in on a daily basis.”

Dua Anjum is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at dua.anjum@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura County coalition seeks end to sheriff’s ICE cooperation