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Add ICE and Shake: Sanctuary City Debat
Judy Buchan
Contributing Writer
I
t all started with ICE.
Earlier this year, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents came to Redwood City and
detained a number of suspected undocumented
immigrants. That action sparked community
meetings, pleas to the City Council to condemn
the ICE activity, questions about the Police
Department’s policy toward undocumented
immigrants and concerns that formal action to
become a sanctuary city is in the works.
A “sanctuary city” is one where police and
other city employees are not permitted to ask
about the immigration status of those within
the city limits or to cooperate with federal
immigration officials in most circumstances.
Leaders of San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose,
Boston and New York have designated their cities
as sanctuary cities.
The question now is whether the Redwood City
Police Department’s policy means Redwood City
is a sanctuary city. Adopted in 1995, the policy
states: “The Redwood City Police Department
will not stop, detain or arrest an individual
solely on the suspicion that he or she is an
undocumented immigrant.”
“No, we are not a sanctuary city,” said Mayor
Barbara Pierce, citing her extensive research
of the current policy. “It is important to take
this in the context of community safety,” Pierce
said. “People must be able to communicate with
the Police Department to report crime or as
victims of crime without fear of questions about
immigration status. We need to build trust. It’s
a good policy and we need to stay with it,” she
concluded.
Council Member Ian Bain also agreed with
the policy, noting that “it’s not our job to enforce
federal laws; we enforce local laws.” When
asked about formal legislation to make Redwood
City a sanctuary city, Bain responded, “While
I can’t speak for my colleagues, no one on the
council has interest in doing that. I won’t vote for
Council Members Rosanne Foust and Alicia Aguirre
legislation that conflicts with federal law.”
Does the policy indicate that Redwood City is
a sanctuary city? “Not at all,” said Vice Mayor
Rosanne Foust. “This is a very sensitive issue
within our community.” Should the City Council
enact a policy directing the Police Department
to check immigration status? “No. We don’t set
immigration policy; the federal government does.
Other cities around the country have adopted
restrictive ordinances regarding immigration,
only to have them struck down by the courts,” she
added.
“I would not support any type of resolution
making Redwood City a sanctuary city,” Foust
said. “I was elected to uphold the United States
Constitution, the constitution of the state of
California, and all local laws.”
Foust added, “You know, my family came from
Czechoslovakia and Ireland. They came though
Ellis Island, worked in Pennsylvania coal mines
and became citizens. That’s the way you do it.”
Erin Lucien and Art Bush of the Redwood City
Coalition for Immigration Control take a different
view. “Redwood City is a sanctuary city already,”
Lucien said. “Our elected officials took an oath
of office to enforce the laws; they can’t pick and
choose which laws they will enforce.”
Art Bush agrees. “Unofficially it is [a sanctuary
city]. They have said they will not ask,” he said.
Lucien and Bush have become active in the
immigration debate, both taking part in recent
demonstrations at the corner of Jefferson and El
Camino. Lucien is a general contractor who feels
the effects of illegal immigration are “pervasive
— in professional life, finances and personal life.”
He contends that, while he and Mayor Pierce are
good friends, she may have a “political agenda” in
the immigration debate.
Lucien is concerned about the upcoming
immigration forums sponsored by the League of
Women Voters, particularly one agenda item that
he said is to include community services available
to undocumented workers. He also said that his
wife is worried about retaliation in response to his
activity.
Bush has participated in demonstrations
against illegal immigration and made contact
with Minutemen groups in the East Bay. He chose
not to formally join one group in Castro Valley,
due to what he saw as “racist overtones” on the
part of some members. Bush recalled being in a
“peaceful” march in Fremont last July, only to
be met by people he described as Hispanic gang
members. After the physical confrontation, Bush
said he needed $3,000 in dental work.
Bush talked about Friendly Acres, his ethnically
diverse neighborhood. Citing neighboring
families of different racial backgrounds, he said
quite simply, “My neighbors came here to be
Americans, not to stay in the third world.”
Both men noted a community meeting held
at the Fair Oaks Community Center soon after
the ICE immigration action. “There were very
few Anglos there,” Bush said. “The meeting
was all done in Spanish. They told people what
their rights were and that they didn’t have to
volunteer information,” he continued. He added
that Chief of Police Louis Cobarruviaz told the
audience that the Police Department would not
“hassle” them for documentation but would
look for documentation only if a crime had been
committed.
At one point, Bush and Lucien said, the chief
asked the audience, “How many of you are from
Mexico?” When people raised their hands, they
continued, the chief pointed to the audience
and said, “We told you not to tell.” Both men
expressed frustration with that incident.
Was the chief trying to “coach” the audience?
“He was just restating the policy to the people,”
said Council Member Alicia Aguirre.
“We in Redwood City do care about safety,” she
continued. “We want people to be comfortable
communicating to the Police Department. If
crime is not reported, that makes it more difficult
to get help to the people.”
Sanctuary city resolutions, Aguirre said, “are
just pieces of paper that make people feel good.
They don’t address the issue.”
“We are trying to educate the community
through activities such as the League of Women
Voters forums,” she added. “When there’s a
meeting like the one at Fair Oaks, then the
Minutemen gather at Jefferson and El Camino.
People on both sides are fearful.”
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Mayor Barbara Pierce