Napa Becomes Latest CA County To End Jail Immigration Holds Without Probable Cause
NAPA COUNTY (CBS SF) -- The Napa County Department of Corrections is the latest California county to decide against detaining inmates past their release date for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless a court finds a probable cause to detain them, the jail's director Lenard Vare said this week.
The Napa County jail's new policy is the same as other jurisdictions in California that have stopped honoring standard ICE detainers, Napa County Public Information Officer Elizabeth Emmett said.
Sonoma County Sheriff Steve Freitas recently announced the jail will no longer honor ICE immigration holds that are not supported by an arrest warrant or other probable cause, following behind San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, Monterey and Riverside.
The policy change on ICE detainers was announced two months after a U.S. District Court ruled an ICE hold at an Oregon county jail violated a woman's constitutional rights.
Before the court ruling, the jail was required to keep an undocumented alien in custody for no more than 48 hours excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays to allow ICE to take the inmate into custody.
In a recent letter to Congress, ICE said its holds are not mandatory, Emmett said.
The jail's policy change was announced two months after a federal judge in Oregon ruled an ICE hold at the Clackamas County jail in Oregon in 2012 violated a woman's constitutional rights.
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