Santa Clara Sheriff's Department Says ICE Agents Interviewed Inmates
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco Bay Area sheriff's office says it allowed federal deportation officers to enter the jail it operates and interview four inmates in violation of the agency's pro-immigrant sanctuary policies.
Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith told the San Francisco Chronicle that members of her staff "mistakenly" let U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers enter their facility March 7 and 8.
She said none of the four inmates were detained by ICE.
Smith said that after learning of the incident the sheriff's office reevaluated and strengthened measures for admitting law enforcement agencies to their facilities.
"We value the trust and rapport we've earned with our local immigrant community and we will not break that trust," the sheriff told the paper.
The interviews took place the same week that Attorney General Jeff Sessions sued California over the state's so-called sanctuary laws, escalating a feud between the state and the Trump administration.
