Determined residents have descended on Marin County Board of Supervisors meetings over the last year, pushing for a strong ordinance limiting ICE enforcement activities on county property.
Instead, on Oct. 20, the supervisors unanimously approved a policy, a set of rules for county workers. It fell far short of what activists had in mind, an actual law with teeth.
The county’s new rules bar ICE from setting up shop in county parking lots, vacant lots and garages. Without a judge’s warrant, county workers can’t let agents into offices and other areas closed to the public.
County Executive Derek Johnson, Marin’s top administrator, is in charge of enforcing the policy. Employees who hear from or spot immigration agents have 24 hours to let his office know. The Board of Supervisors will get regular updates.
Starting in January, the sheriff and chief probation officer will send the county attorney a monthly rundown of their departments’ dealings with immigration authorities. A county staff report says the policy “significantly strengthens the reporting requirements related to law enforcement.”
County officials say they went as far as the law allows, telling supervisors that local government can’t “prevent lawful arrests.”
“It would be cruel to overpromise protections to a community already living with fear and uncertainty,” Supervisor Mary Sackett said in a county news release. “We cannot abolish ICE or prevent federal immigration enforcement in Marin.”
The No ICE in Marin coalition, made up of 19 local organizations, says the county has more power than it’s using. Members wrote their own ordinance and gathered more than 10,000 petition signatures supporting it, said Curt Ries, a coalition leader.
Both sides agree that ICE agents have the same right as anyone else to walk onto public property. The dispute is over what agents may do once they arrive.
“You can ban certain activities; you can’t ban access,” Ries said in an interview.
The coalition’s proposed ordinance would prohibit immigration enforcement actions on all county property without a judge’s order. That includes searching, questioning and detaining someone. Supporters say the county already controls how its property gets used. Requiring a permit for a large gathering in a park is one example.
“The main concrete thing we were trying to prevent with this ordinance is ICE showing up outside the county jail and using the county parking lot and the jail lobby to detain people,” Ries said. “That’s a very concrete thing that they do over and over and over again.”
Beyond parking lots, garages and areas closed to the public, the supervisors’ policy leaves county property fair game for ICE. Between March and September, agents detained 13 people in the jail lobby or just outside the building, according to the Marin Rapid Response Network.
Other Bay Area counties, including San Mateo and Sonoma, have passed ordinances limiting immigration enforcement on county property. San Francisco has a similar law and authorizes the city attorney to take legal action against anyone in violation.
Marin County staff contend there is “no material difference” between a policy and an ordinance like the one activists want. Ries isn’t buying it.
“If they really thought they were the same, then why wouldn’t they do the one that everyone is asking for?” he said.
Activists say the difference matters most when it comes to Sheriff Jamie Scardina, who currently cooperates with ICE and lets agents into the jail building. The county’s policy states that nothing in it is meant to control the sheriff’s independent authority.
No ICE in Marin’s ordinance calls for Scardina to stop posting the full jail booking log online, where anyone, including immigration agents, can see who’s in custody. It also asks for public guidelines on deputies wearing masks and showing ID. The sheriff’s reports on interactions with ICE would go to the supervisors instead of the county attorney.
The protests at Board of Supervisors meetings aren’t over. Only a strong ordinance will satisfy the coalition.
“We’ll be there on November 10th, and we’ll continue to show up until it gets done,” Ries said.
