ICE Reveals Loophole of Its Own, Arrests Illegal in Sanctuary State
Loopholes are a good thing. We always want the law to defer to less government, not more.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement found that loopholes can even make it possible to enforce the law in sanctuary states. The arrest of Yovanny Ontiveros-Cebreros by ICE agents happened at the Sacramento Superior Court in the sanctuary state of California.
Ontiveros-Cebreros’ lawyer, Charles Pecheco, was furious.
“The judge was weak — he had no control of his courtroom, and allowed the federal government to come into his court. He just wanted to neutralize the situation, so he could figure out what was going on, and then he felt that it was justified that the (ICE) guy said there was a warrant for illegal re-entry,” Pecheco said.
But Superior Court Judge Lawrence Brown was not about to have the rule of law challenged in his courtroom.
In response to the lawyer, Judge Brown said “the court was mindful of the concerns raised by counsel about a chilling effect on undocumented persons coming to court – one articulated far more thoughtfully by the Chief Justice of California – but such concerns could not impede enforcing a lawfully-issued warrant at the moment.”
Ouch.
Allowing law enforcement to do their jobs has had an amazing effect.
President Donald Trump unleashed ICE along our southern border, and illegal crossings hit a 46-year low less than halfway through his first term. However, not everyone is as excited about effective law enforcement as heartland America.
State Supreme Court chief justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is one of the critics.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then-Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, she wrote: “enforcement policies that include stalking courthouses and arresting undocumented immigrants, the vast majority of whom pose no risk to public safety, are neither safe nor fair.”
The response letter from Kelly and Sessions doubles down on their support of ICE agents.
“As ICE undertakes the necessary enforcement of our country’s immigration laws, its officers and agents will continually improve their operations to meet the challenges to effective enforcement, including state and local policies that hinder their efforts,” the letter reads.
“Such policies threaten public safety, rather than enhance it. As a result, ICE officers and agents are required to locate and arrest these aliens in public places, rather than in secure jail facilities where the risk of injury to the public, the alien, and the officer is significantly increased because the alien can more readily access a weapon, resist arrest, or flee.”
The letter is straightforward and the message is clear. If you want a safer country, let law enforcement do their job.
What a novel concept.
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