California lawmakers press ICE for information about raids – The Mercury News

SACRAMENTO Leaders of the state Assembly and Senate on Monday sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the federal government, asking for detailed information about recent raids in California as well as for Department of Homeland Security immigration policies, including the treatment of young immigrants who entered the country illegally with their families as children.

The letter the latest in what promises to be a prolonged battle between California and the feds comes less than a week after Homeland Security released draft memos revealing an expandedpool of people it might target for deportation. The memos began to translate into policyPresident Donald Trumps executive orders for stricterimmigration enforcement and fiscal consequences for local governments with sanctuary policies.

California, meanwhile, is considering a controversial proposal to limit communication between local law enforcement officers and federal immigration agents, as well as other bills to protect or assist undocumented immigrants.

The letter from Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Len, D-Los Angeles, asks for the number of people deported to their home countries in recent weeks as well as the crimes that made them a target for deportation; whether detainees were given access to legal representation; and whether ICE agents conducted their activities near schools, hospitals, medical clinics, community centers, courts, government offices or churches.

Despite saying hed only target dangerous criminals, President Trumps executive orders target practically every undocumented person in California, said de Len in a statement. The lack of transparency by ICE is creating havoc and confusion in communities across the state and that has to change. Its time for ICE to come clean on what theyre doing and how they intend to operate going forward.

James Schwab, a spokesman for ICEs field office in San Francisco, said the agencys guidance for enforcement at so-called sensitive locations, such as churches and schools, has not changed since Trump took office. He pointed to an ICE memo from 2011 the latest directive that saysthat enforcement actions should not occur at such locations barring certain circumstances, such as imminent risk to human life or suspected terrorist activity.

Schwab said about 1,500 recipients of DACA Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals have had their status revoked as a result of criminal activity or gang affiliation since 2012. The policy, he said, is this: Aliens granted deferred action from deportation who are subsequently found to pose a threat to national security or public safety may have their deferred action terminated at any time and DHS may seek their removal from the United States.