U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleged Friday that Monterey County officials are protecting criminals after the county issued a cease-and-desist letter a day earlier calling on the agency to stop using county property for immigration enforcement.
On Thursday, County Counsel Susan Blitch sent a letter to the ICE field office in San Francisco alleging that the agency has been using county-owned parking lots and violating parking restrictions, blocking ingress and egress into county facilities, and “operating in an unsafe manner” on county property.
In her letter, Blitch said ICE vehicles have been seen this week and last week at the Natividad Medical Center campus, the county jail, a soccer complex, and at juvenile hall.
“The interruption of services to the public seeking medical care is especially troubling,” she wrote in the letter.
Blitch alleged that ICE vehicles have parked in red zones, blocked driveways, used county parking lots as staging areas for immigration enforcement, and operated without “due regard for the safety of pedestrians and others,” saying ICE vehicles showed “willful and wanton disregard” for people’s safety.
“Criminals are being protected in sanctuary cities and states, and a law enforcement facility is siding with CRIMINALS instead of cooperating with federal law enforcement.”
ICE statement
ICE activity around the jail led to its three-hour lockdown on Oct. 27.
A spokesperson from ICE said in an email statement Friday that agency officers were engaged in a targeted operation involving “criminal illegal aliens” with past DUI, drug-related, and false identification arrests.
“Two of the individuals ICE sought were reportedly released from custody,” the statement from ICE said. “Criminals are being protected in sanctuary cities and states, and a law enforcement facility is siding with CRIMINALS instead of cooperating with federal law enforcement.”
In September, the county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to bar ICE from using county property for civil immigration enforcement.
The supervisors also approved a temporary 45-day moratorium beginning in late September banning the construction or expansion of ICE detention facilities on unincorporated county land.