Breaking down city effort to limit local cooperation with ICE

S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. Today we are talking about the latest from the city and county on efforts to tamp down ICE's presence in certain spaces. This is KPBS Midday Edition , connecting our communities through conversation. As I mentioned , both the city and county of San Diego are ramping up their efforts to tamp down ISIS presence in certain spaces. So let me bring you up to speed. Last night , the county Board of Supervisors decided they will write a proposal that , if passed , would place stricter guidelines on where federal agents can carry out enforcement , especially on county property. The proposal is called the Civil Liberties Enforcement and Accountability Rules Ordinance , also known as Clear. Now , this action by the county follows the city of San Diego , where just on Monday , the council unanimously gave tentative approval to an ordinance that restricts local cooperation with Ice. Here to talk about that is KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Bowen. Andrew , great to have you here , as always.

S2: Thank you. Jade , glad to be here.

S1: All right. So the county's new ordinance is modeled after the cities. Give us the rundown of the city's proposal.

S2: Yeah , there are several components to this. It's not just about , like , direct cooperation with Ice , but let's start there. So one requirement is for any federal law enforcement agent to present a warrant in order to access any non-public city facility. So that would not include , say , a park or a library or even the city council chambers where there's already no public access. Anybody can just walk in there. It would cover a private meeting rooms at City Hall , or potentially could include a rec centers that might be leased by community groups that have some kind of controlled entry. Um , there's also a required. This extends to city contractors. So say they have to do the same for their facilities. That would include , say , a homeless shelter that receives city funding. And it also requires , um , multilingual. Know your rights information to be posted at the entrances to these facilities. So that's all that sort of , you know , show a warrant in order to access the other components to this. There's also a requirement for annual disclosure of city participation and joint law enforcement task forces. So let's say SPD detectives are working with the FBI on drug trafficking or human trafficking. Um , that would be allowed , but the ordinance requires more transparency and more disclosure about all of those things. And what the purposes of those tax taskforces are. The ordinance prohibits city participation in task forces if they involve anything with immigration enforcement or investigation of protected personal characteristics or personal activities. So it's sort of a broadly defined , uh , you know , a way to try and prevent the city from in any way contributing or aiding immigration enforcement or other types of actions that we may not know exactly where you know , whether they're coming or if they're coming or what they might look like. Right.

S1: Right.

S2: That would be , you know , prohibit newly prohibited by this ordinance. And that's largely because the state already restricts local and state law enforcement from cooperating with Ice. And the intent is , you know , with this ordinance is to just ensure that those restrictions are also reflected in local law. And I think , as I alluded to earlier , it's an effort to get ahead of the increasing presence of federal law enforcement in cities. We see , you know , the National Guard troops deployed in Chicago and Portland and potentially San Francisco. And I don't know if we know exactly where all of that is headed , whether the Trump administration would seek to use National Guard troops , or the FBI or other law enforcement agencies that he controls for purposes that we can't yet anticipate. Uh , there were representatives from Planned Parenthood at in support of this ordinance , talking about people coming to San Diego from other states to receive abortion care. Uh , you know , and fears that they could be targeted. Uh , someone from the LGBT community center spoke about trans people fleeing to California to access gender transition care. So and those things , you know , there are other states that have laws on the books that seek to criminalize and punish those things , even if they occur outside of their own jurisdiction in other states. So , yes , this ordinance is preventative. It's meant to be sort of narrowly narrow enough to allow cooperation on issues that the council and the city is okay with , but also broad enough to prevent cooperation on issues they're not okay with and they may not even know about or or foresee coming. Wow.

S1: Wow. So any opposition to this proposal so far.

S2: Well , there were a few remote commenters who spoke in opposition during the city council meeting. Many of them just sort of reflecting the talking points from the Trump administration that , you know , these are bad people , that the city that the administration is deporting as far as a widespread or organized opposition. I didn't hear any of that at the meeting.

S1:

S2: There were multiple public speakers who were struggling to get their comments out through , you know , fighting back tears. Even many council members fought to keep their composure because I think San Diego is a community with many immigrants and many immigrants who are deeply embedded and integrated into the neighborhood fabric. Um , you know , there were several comments from Council member Sean Rivera , who crafted this ordinance and brought it forward , saying , you know , there are many people who would like to speak in support of this ordinance but are afraid to leave their homes because they're afraid of immigration enforcement tracking them down and arresting them , and , you know , sending them to a country that , you know , they don't , that that is not their home. So , yes , it was a very emotional meeting. And , you know , one that many people were deeply touched by. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Many of those people in the chamber were youth. And I know we do have some sound from Shawn Eloy Rivera as he addressed them while waiting for the vote.

S3: We can't promise you that the federal government won't make your nightmares a reality. I can't promise you that your parents or grandparents , or the others you love and are vulnerable in our community won't be targeted , detained and arrested so badly. Wish that I could make that promise to you. However , not being able to stop the federal government from all of their worst impulses does not mean that we can't do something here. Hmm.

S1: Hmm.

S2: This is to comply with a state law that requires , you know , talks with those unions on new policies or ordinances that might impact their working conditions. And this does obviously impact how city employees do their jobs. So once that negotiation process is complete and we don't know how long it'll last , there will be a second reading at the city council , and that's when it would go into effect.

S1: I've been speaking with KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Bowen. Andrew , thank you so much.

S2: My pleasure. Jason.

S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.