Please attribute the following to Hector Villagra, executive director at the ACLU of Southern California:
The ACLU of Southern California commends the board of supervisors for finally bringing an end to a deeply flawed enforcement program that has undermined public safety and violated fundamental Constitutional protections, including an individual’s right to be free from unlawful detention.
While the supervisor’s vote to terminate 287 (g) will end ICE’s presence in the jails, and help restore trust between local immigrant communities and law enforcement, much more is needed to guarantee that individuals aren’t racially profiled, that U.S. citizens aren’t illegally detained, or worse yet deported, and that law enforcement officers aren’t turned into immigration agents.
Today’s vote is a start but the ACLU SoCal remains concerned that the supervisors and Sheriff Jim McDonnell do not embrace 00the Obama administration’s promise that the Priority Enforcement Program is a new tool. It is little more than an old, discredited program in a new form. The federal government has long been selling this brand of snake oil, and it is time to reject it in all its forms.
Media contact: Sandra Hernandez, 213.977.5252, shernandez@aclusocal.org