Posted on 03/21/2018 5:18:50 AM PDT by servo1969
Border patrol agents are refusing to hand over illegal immigrants with felony warrants to police in California because they can’t be sure local authorities will return the criminal aliens to federal custody, according to a top border security official in San Diego.
Rodney Scott, the chief patrol agent in the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector, said earlier this month that California’s statewide sanctuary law was undermining normal cooperation between his agency and local law enforcement.
In a little-reported declaration in support of the Department of Justice’s March 6 lawsuit against California, Scott recalled multiple instances in which a Border Patrol agent in the San Diego sector determined that releasing a criminal alien to a local law enforcement would likely result in the person being released without notification to federal authorities.
“In each instance, the Border Patrol Agent determined it was not appropriate, consistent with his or her federal responsibilities to ensure the enforcement of immigration law, to release a criminal alien to the state and local law enforcement,” Scott said in a court declaration. “This was because, although the alien was subject to removal, if released to California law enforcement, the alien would ultimately be released into the public.”
Scott’s declaration, first reported March 19 by a local San Diego nonprofit news outlet, blamed the decisions on the California Values Act, the sanctuary state law that went into effect at the beginning of 2018. Also known as SB 54, the law sharply restricts communication between local police and federal immigration authorities, including about when criminal aliens are going to be released from local jails.
Passed with widespread support among leading California Democrats, SB54 is the centerpiece of the state’s resistance to the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. It was among three California laws the DOJ challenged in its lawsuit, which argues the state’s sanctuary policies amount to a “significant intrusion into federal enforcement of the immigration laws.”
After fewer than four months in effect, SB54 has begun to harm working relationships between local and federal law enforcement southern California, according to Scott’s declaration. Particularly troubling, he says, is that state and local officers are less willing to respond to Border Patrol agents’ calls for assistance.
In one example, the El Cajon Police Department refused to help Border Patrol agents pursue three suspects who were fleeing in a vehicle, despite multiple requests form Border Patrol dispatch.
“After the event, it was determined that the officer declined the request to assist presuming it was an immigration matter, as opposed to a fleeing subject whose identity/immigration status was not known at the time of the incident,” Scott wrote. “This declination for assistance occurred even though it involved a vehicle that failed to yield, endangering federal law enforcement and the public while traveling on a California Interstate and highway within their jurisdiction.”
Other California sanctuary laws have impacted the Border Patrol’s ability to locate illegal aliens, Scott says. One is Assembly Bill 450, a law enacted in October that, among other provisions, prevents businesses from granting border agents access to “nonpublic” areas of their property unless the agent has a judicial warrant.
Scott says AB 450 has interfered longstanding working relationships between Border Patrol agents and local businesses, reducing agents’ ability to observe human smuggling and other cross-border crimes.
“If employers are not able to provide such consensual access, Border Patrol’s ability to detect and interdict real time illegal activity, ranging from criminal activity to the smuggling of narcotics to potential terrorists seeking to enter the United States, along the border will be diminished,” Scott said.
AB 450 was another of the laws targeted in DOJ’s lawsuit, the first to be filed against a local or state government over immigration enforcement issues. The Trump administration argues that successful enforcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act assumes cooperation between private companies and federal, state, and local agencies.
A mayor with a fast-thumbs using social media will ignite the mess.
“After the event, it was determined that the officer declined the request to assist presuming it was an immigration matter, as opposed to a fleeing subject whose identity/immigration status was not known at the time of the incident,” Scott wrote. “This declination for assistance occurred even though it involved a vehicle that failed to yield, endangering federal law enforcement and the public while traveling on a California Interstate and highway within their jurisdiction.”
The El Cajon officers who refused to assist should be fired for dereliction of duty. Instead, they will probably be given medals from a "grateful city"...
You can fire the border patrol agent. He/she is a public servant and not on the CA payroll.
"agents"
Some criminals wear badges and carry guns. SOme have been elected to offices of the public trust. Some sneak into your country and deplete the welfare system.
They all need to be arrested and prosecuted.
This is really starting to resemble some of the history you read from the lead-up to the Civil War.
in addition to lawsuits by the DOJ, Red States need to bring suit against California, either individually or as a compact, for violation of the Constitutional contract it agreed to when it was admitted into the Union.
litigation between the States would be the most expedition course as SCOTUS has that original jurisdiction.
The SHTF incident will be the arrest of California law enforcement officers for aiding and abetting the enforcement of federal laws.
expidition —> expeditious
Didn’t SCOTUS rule recently. that sanctuary in’f legal anywhere/
What they should be doing is handing them over to California Authorities and then pulling them over 20 miles down the road and ARREST THEM FOR ALIEN SMUGGLING!!
Go to CA jails, find incarcerated illegals and sue CA for housing illegal aliens!
“sue” my Ass, ARREST AND PROSECUTE
Why would you want to fire the border patrol agents??? For doing their jobs?
...couldn’t US Marshals assist border patrol agents when arresting illegals?
I agree. The federal agents are getting forced to not cooperate with local authorities due to sanctuary policies. Federal law requires these illegal invaders be deported, and that is put in jeopardy if they are turned over to local law enforcement. The illegals may or may not serve time for local infractions, but are then set free instead of being turned back over to the feds.
The Border Patrol is doing its job, God willing.
You've never been to California, have you?
The law that applies to situations where state and federal laws disagree is called the supremacy clause, which is part of article VI of the Constitution. The supremacy clause contains what’s known as the doctrine of pre-emption, which says that the federal government wins in the case of conflicting legislation. Basically, if a federal and state law contradict, then when you’re in the state you can follow the state law, but the feds can decide to stop you. When there is a conflict between a state law and federal law, it is the federal law that prevails. For example, if a federal regulation prohibits the use of medical marijuana, but a state regulation allows it, the federal law prevails.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.