![]() ![]() Daily emails to ICEĪlmost every morning, immigration agents set into a routine. “Seeing officers going out of their way to use local resources to further a federal agenda was exactly the kind of policy that this law was intended to stop,” Herat said. The so-called sanctuary state law prevented agencies from disclosing personal information without a signed warrant from a federal judge. Lawmakers passed the Keep Washington Working Act in 2019 as a referendum on the Trump administration’s deportation policies. “Collaboration not only exposes the county to liability but it also undermines trust between law enforcement and segments of the community they’re sworn to serve,” she said. Enoka Herat, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, said the county is opening itself up to lawsuits and is damaging its credibility with immigrant communities. As recently as February, the jail and federal agents communicated almost daily.Ĭivil rights groups and researchers said the records show local law enforcement flouting protections that were put in place to create more of a firewall from federal immigration enforcement. Records recently obtained by OPB show Clark County Sheriff’s Office continues to share inmates’ personal information - particularly that of Latinos - with ICE. “Just because your name is not John Smith,” he said, “you get to be treated differently.” You should not be judged from the background you come from,” said Simon, whose real name OPB is withholding because he has more undocumented family members. “I think that you should not be judged by the color of your skin. The ICE building in Portland, June 29, 2021.įor Simon, his brother’s deportation stings more than a year later. Jail staff hadn’t known anything about Simon’s brother when they tipped off ICE, other than he was born in Mexico and had been arrested on second-degree assault - charges that were later dropped. “Great job! Go get him!” one staffer wrote to ICE agents April 23. The jail staff would later cheer the agents on in emails. It was later revealed in court that jail staff aided the federal agents - allowing them to walk into a restricted area of the jail. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had stepped in, picking up Simon’s brother before he had even one foot out the jail. When the name disappeared, he expected a phone call from his newly freed brother. He spent the day awaiting his brother’s release. Simon had posted the $35,000 bail that morning. ![]()
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March 2023
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