Sonoma County officials condemn ICE arrests. 24 hours later, 2 more were detained
U.S. immigration agents in Sonoma County have arrested at least five people since Tuesday including three at the county’s courthouse in an enforcement sweep condemned by Sonoma criminal justice leaders.
At least three people were arrested Tuesday morning outside Sonoma Superior Court in Santa Rosa by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Sonoma officials said. The actions drew quick condemnation from the county’s district attorney, public defender and county counsel, who decried the actions as “lawless,” saying ICE agents flouted California law.
“ICE’s actions are lawless in that their actions are carried out without judicial warrants and violate recently passed state law prohibiting civil arrests at a courthouse,” Sonoma County Counsel Bruce Goldstein said in the joint statement following Tuesday’s arrests. “Rather than protect our community, these immigration arrests undermine our system of justice.”
Nearly 24 hours later, two more were taken in as they left Sonoma County Jail to enter an alcohol treatment program, Sonoma County Public Defender Kathleen Pozzi told The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday. Pozzi joined Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch and Goldstein in the Tuesday statement.
“They were being released from jail to go to rehab – a residential program. As they were being released, ICE arrested them,” Pozzi said.
ICE officials in Sacramento identified two men arrested Tuesday as Antonio Hernandez Lopez and Pedro Romero Aguirre. ICE agents say Lopez was in the country illegally and was arrested Dec. 24, 2019, by Santa Rosa police on suspicion of inflicting corporal injury to a spouse, driving under the influence and preventing a witness from reporting a crime.
Lopez also has a 2005 conviction for driving under the influence and was convicted in 2009 for violating a local ordinance, said ICE officials. Officials said Lopez had been apprehended four times by federal immigration officers from 2004 to 2007 before returning to Mexico.
Aguirre was arrested on a string of misdemeanor offenses over the past 10 years, including trespassing, driving without a license, illegal entry and, on Tuesday, misdemeanor battery. ICE officials say Aguirre was apprehended six times in 2010 by immigration officers. Each time, Aguirre returned or was returned to Mexico. Both men were in ICE custody Wednesday.
A 7:45 a.m. call on Tuesday to Sonoma County sheriff’s dispatchers pointed out that ICE agents were camped outside of 600 Mendocino Ave. in Santa Rosa, according to the statement. The sprawling Mendocino Avenue complex where the court is located is also home to the Sonoma County Courthouse’s criminal division, along with the DA’s and Public Defender’s offices.
Sheriff Mark Essick, quoted in the statement, said his deputies did not “collaborate with Homeland Security agents,” adding that his office has “strict policies regarding any coordination with ICE.”
“We are committed to equal justice. It’s not just our viewpoint. It’s everybody’s viewpoint,” Pozzi said. “There is a large Hispanic community in our county. We speak the same language as our law enforcement partners on this.”
Ravitch signed a letter to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then-Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly objecting to arrests in and around the state’s courthouses.
Ravitch joined others including California Supreme Court Chief Justice and former Sacramento Superior County Judge Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who strongly objected to ICE arrests at California courthouses. The chief justice has said courthouses should be treated as “sensitive spaces,” akin to schools, churches and hospitals, “so that victims or witnesses of crime can safely come to our courts to seek justice.”
But ICE officials dismissed that in their strongly worded statement Wednesday, saying California law “cannot and will not govern the conduct of federal officers.”
“Our officers will not have their hands tied by sanctuary rules when enforcing immigration laws to remove criminal aliens from our communities,” said David Jennings, director of ICE’s San Francisco field office. The statement went on to warn that local jurisdictions electing not to cooperate with ICE agents will likely see increased ICE operations, saying ICE will have “no choice but to conduct more at-large operations.”
Ravitch did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but Pozzi warned of the chilling effect the arrests will have on crime victims and witnesses to crime.
“Clients are refusing to come to court. Witnesses are refusing to come to court,” Pozzi said. “The Chief Justice strongly opposed this. We all echoed it, but, really, what can we do? We’re encouraging them not to run and hide.”
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 2:25 PM.
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