Surprise: Federal Judge In Los Angeles Finds ICE Detainers Un-Constitutional

Everyone put on a shocked face

(LA Times) A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that police departments violate the Constitution if they detain inmates at the request of immigration agents, marking the latest legal setback for the Trump administration’s plans to identify and deport immigrants in the country illegally.

In his order issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. found that a now-defunct policy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department violated the constitutional rights of inmates who were kept in custody at the behest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Birotte’s strongly worded order bolstered similar previous court rulings, which found police cannot legally honor such detainer requests from ICE.

“The LASD officers have no authority to arrest individuals for civil immigration offenses, and thus, detaining individuals beyond their date for release violated the individuals’ Fourth Amendment rights,” Birotte wrote.

The Sheriff’s Department has not delayed releasing inmates on ICE’s behalf since 2014 and none of California’s 58 sheriffs are willing to fulfill the ICE requests. Police in other parts of the country, however, continue to hold inmates to allow ICE agents time to take them into federal custody for possible deportation. Judges elsewhere could look to this week’s decision for guidance when deciding future cases.

ICE detainers typical ask jails to inform them prior to releasing illegals and/or hold the illegal for 48 hours. If ICE fails to show, then it is on ICE that the illegal alien is release. Remember, these are illegal aliens who have been in jail. They’ve either been picked up for some crime and are going to be released, or have been incarcerated, convicted of some offense. These are the people California’s sheriffs and other law enforcement, as well as Judge Birotte Jr are protecting.

Birotte also went on to rule against several other things that ICE does, such as

Under the terms of the lawsuit, the ruling voids any pending detainer requests that were issued by ICE officials in Southern California. That designation is important since ICE officers working out of a facility in Orange County issue detainer requests to police departments in dozens of states around the country.

I’ve written it before and I’ll write it again: if the pro-illegal alien forces want to play this game, then ICE should have their own judge who sits around and signs warrants. Pro-illegal supporters say they want warrants? Give them warrants. Then, if they try and block those warrants, if they fail to enforce them, then those pro-illegal forces can be arrested for obstruction. Because you know they’ll try. They’re all, including the ACLU, which is involved in the lawsuit, putting illegal aliens ahead of American citizens and those who are lawfully present.