County takes millions reporting foreign-born prisoners to ICE

County takes millions reporting foreign-born prisoners to ICE

Fortunately, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors recently voted unanimously to plan for defenses against the state terrorism of unconstitutional immigration enforcement (ICE). Unfortunately, the County, through the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO), continues to participate in a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) program, known as SCAAP. ACSO continues to report all foreign-born people with at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions on their record who have been incarcerated in our County jail for as few as four days.

In 2024 alone, DOJ paid the Sheriff’s Office $1.27 million for these reports that are shared with DHS/ICE.

ACSO does not ask prisoners for their immigration status, but instead reports all foreign-born individuals under this category, including citizens, residents with documents, or others. (See https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48441)

Reporting all foreign-born individuals endangers everyone, whether they are undocumented or not. Those reported may even be naturalized citizens, with misdemeanor convictions that are decades old. Some could have had their current charges dismissed, and most would be in the “pre-trial” category, innocent until proven guilty.

DHS/ICE does not care whether those reported are undocumented. What is more important with today’s “enforcement” tactics is the color of one’s skin. It does not matter whether an individual has already served their sentence. People spending as few as four days in custody are reported along with their country of origin.

Reporting under SCAAP began long before Yesenia Sanchez became the Sheriff. As a daughter of immigrants, she says she wants to end participation in the program but needs the County to replace the SCAAP program funds. The latest monetary award amounts to 0.4% of the Detentions and Corrections budget, easily replaced with money the County is already saving from funded but unfilled ACSO positions.

It is time to end ALL cooperation with ICE and Homeland Security.

NOTE: SCAAP (State Criminal Alien Assistance Program) is a euphemism designed to mislead.

• It’s not a state program; it’s federal.

• People with a criminal record are not necessarily criminals.

• And, it doesn’t assist aliens.

What You Can Do:

Contact the Board of Supervisors (call 510-208-9770 or email the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors at CBS@acgov.org).

Tell them they need to:

1. End cooperation with ICE and end our participation in SCAAP.

2. Tell the County Administrator, Susan Muranishi, to find the money to end our participation.