Federal immigration agents went to the Santa Cruz Main Jail on Saturday morning, Oct. 24, to take a person into custody. They left without detaining anyone, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office said, according to the Pajaronian.
No courtesy call
Sheriff Chris Clark told Lookout Santa Cruz that his office got no advance warning. In past cases, he said, ICE had given the department a courtesy notification. Lookout has counted at least 39 such ICE courtesy calls across the county in the past two years.
"Saturday's incident was interesting in the sense that I didn't get any forewarning," Clark told Lookout. "We didn't get a call."
Who they were looking for
Clark said ICE later told his office the agents were there for a man arrested shortly after midnight Saturday on suspicion of DUI. It was his fourth DUI arrest, which is a felony. Clark said the agents probably expected him to be released that morning. He wasn't, and because of the charge he would stay in custody until he could post bail.
The agents went into the jail's public lobby but never into secured areas, Clark said. They stayed outside into the afternoon. Lookout reported they had left by 2:30 p.m.
How ICE likely knew
Clark said his department does not share inmates' immigration status with ICE, which is restricted under state law SB 54. He said agents probably learned of the arrest from fingerprint records, which go into a central FBI database. In a statement, the Sheriff's Office said it does not tell ICE about release dates or take part in civil immigration enforcement, but it does comply with valid judicial warrants.
Volunteers from the group Your Allied Rapid Response watched the jail through Saturday evening. Supervisor-elect Tony Nuñez praised both the Sheriff's Office and the volunteers, the Pajaronian reported.