California Sets Itself on Fire

The area north of the San Francisco Bay area is a special place. While part of the area has become condo wonderland and ridiculously overdeveloped, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Santa Rosa counties still retain a certain amount of bucolic charm that brings visitors in from all over the world. The area is especially famed for a number of world class vineyards and wineries.

The entire area was victimized recently by a horrendous fire that still isn’t totally contained. It took 23 lives at last count, and the death toll will likely rise higher once the fire is out and a thorough search for victims can be launched. Santa Rosa County alone lost at least 2,907 homes in the fires, 5% of its housing stock. Numerous commercial buildings and yes, vineyards were also victims of the fire. The insurance claims alone will come to millions of dollars, not to mention the millions that have been spent fighting the blaze.

And then, there was this item, the arrest of one Jesus Fabian Gonzalez, who was arrested in Sonoma County on felony charges for maliciously setting fire to a property.

Gonzalez is no stranger to jail, or indeed to the Sonoma County authorities. He has been arrested 4 times over the past year for various felonies and misdemeanors. Right now he’s being held on a paltry $100,000 bail for the arson charge and under $100,000 bail for a drug related warrant from Ventura County. No trial date has been set yet, because the Sonoma County Superior Court is still closed because of the fires. The idea that bail would even be offered this man given his record and the likelihood he would simply flee justice is a travesty in and of itself.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Tom Homan also confirmed in a statement that Jesus Fabian Gonzalez is an illegal alien from Mexico who has been twice returned to his home country, Mexico.

By the way, according to U.S. law, returning again illegally after being deported constitutes another felony.

Homan also affirmed that ICE has issued detainer requests for Jesus Fabian Gonzalez five times now in the past year alone, including the one issued on October 16 in relation to his most recent arrest on suspicion of arson. All of the arrests were made “by Sonoma County on various felony and misdemeanor charges,” according to Homan. The local police, according to their own statements recognized him the last time they arrested him and knew exactly who he was.

Sonoma County, of course is a sanctuary area for illegal migrants that does not cooperate with ICE under most circumstances. While this policy has been in force in a number of locations in California for some time, it is now official statewide policy, thanks to a bill signed by Governor Jerry Brown.

Here is acting Director Homan’s entire statement, verbatim:

“Once again, a non-cooperative jurisdiction has left their community vulnerable to dangerous individuals and preventable crimes. ICE lodged a detainer against Jesus Gonzalez with Sonoma County jail officials on October 16, following his arrest on felony charges for maliciously setting fire to a property. This is especially troubling in light of the massive wildfires already devastating the region. Over the past year, ICE has lodged detainers against Mr. Gonzalez after four separate arrests by Sonoma County on various felony and misdemeanor charges. ICE was never notified of Mr. Gonzales various releases. Additionally, Mr. Gonzales has been returned to his home country of Mexico on two separate occasions. The residents of Sonoma County, and the state of California, deserve better than policies that expose them to avoidable dangers. Non-cooperation policies – now enshrined in California state law – ensure only one thing: criminals who would otherwise be deported will be released and left free to reoffend as they please.”

In response, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said that administrative detainers are considered unreasonable search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Apparently the Bill of Rights now applies to illegal migrants as well as U.S. citizens, at least in California!

Well,County Sherrif’s an elective office and Giordano wants to get re-elected, so this is to be expected.

The new California Sanctuary State policy was made law via SB54, by Senate President Kevin de León, (D-Los Angeles), a man who openly stated that “half my family is here illegally” and that of course they broke the law by using fake documents and IDs. And we’re not talking at all about people simply seeking work.

From January 2014 to September 2015 (the latest figures I could find), California released illegal migrants considered deportable under federal law in more than 11,000 instances, rather than keeping them in custody for federal agents, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data.

One of these ‘immigrants’ they refused to hold for ICE was the career criminal murdered Kate Steinle in San Francisco. And that’s after he was deported five times. and she’s by no means the only victim of this policy.

Here’s what ICE had to say about the effects of this new law on October 10th:

Governor Jerry Brown’s decision to sign SB54 and make California a sanctuary state for illegal aliens — including those who have committed crimes — will undermine public safety and hinder ICE from performing its federally mandated mission. The governor is simply wrong when he claims otherwise.

SB54 will negatively impact ICE operations in California by nearly eliminating all cooperation and communication with our law enforcement partners in the state, voiding the delegated authority that the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has under the 287g program, and prohibiting local law enforcement from contracting with the federal government to house detainees.

ICE will have no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at work sites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community. ICE will also likely have to detain individuals arrested in California in detention facilities outside of the state, far from any family they may have in California.

Ultimately, SB54 helps shield removable aliens from immigration enforcement and creates another magnet for more illegal immigration, all at the expense of the safety and security of the very people it purports to protect. (emphasis mine)

Despite the severe challenges that this law creates for ICE, we remain committed to our public safety mission and we will continue to do our sworn duty to seek out dangerous criminal aliens and other immigration violators. ICE seeks straightforward cooperation with all sheriffs and local elected officials. This misguided legislation will severely undermine those efforts.

Just to put this in perspective, did Jesus Gonzalez cause this horrendous fire all by himself? Obviously not. But he contributed to it and committed the felony of ‘maliciously setting fire to a property.’ We also know that he’s committed a number of crimes, that he has no right to be in the United States, and that each one the crimes he’s committed cost the taxpayers of California money for his arrests, prosecutions, imprisonment and in damages to the property and person of others. Multiply Jesus Gonzalez by the large number of illegal aliens who commit similar and even more serious crimes and you’re talking serious money and a major assault on public safety.

In California, the estimated 2,365,000 illegal aliens (and it’s likely quite higher) in California represent 7.1 percent of the state’s overall population. But the estimated criminal alien population is estimated at 12.7 percent of the total incarcerated population using the latest data available from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). Even if the overall illegal migrant population is being underestimated as I strongly suspect, that’s still a disproportionate percentage….and a large amount of money that gets spent and a lot of pain and suffering incurred because of the sanctuary policies of the State of California and its various jurisdictions that have bought into this. And remember, this just takes into account the migrants guilty of crimes who get caught. There are many who don’t.

What it comes down to is that California’s political class – and we’re talking about Democrats here, since they effectively run the state – care more about the constituency of illegal migrants who have committed crimes and those who support and advocate for them than they do for public safety, fiscal responsibility or their oaths of office.

And if you want to dispute that illegal migrants constitute a constituency and a voting bloc, just revisit State Senator De Leon’s remarks above. And ask yourself why these politicians would champion illegal migrants in this way if there was not something in it for them.

For my part, I’ll just tell you that voter fraud in California is exceptionally easy, that there is substantial evidence it has occurred, and that California’s Democrats have a vested interest in keeping it that way and could care less about the human or financial cost to their fellow Californians.