The San Joaquin County Jail will no longer honor immigration detainers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed by an Immigrations and Customs Agent. This does not apply to arrest warrants signed by a judge. The Jail will continue to accept all lawfully valid arrest warrants including State and/or Federal charges.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers request local law enforcement agencies to hold undocumented immigrants so as to allow ICE to take them into their custody.

When the jail receives an ICE detainer, it holds the person subject to the detainer for up to 48 hours beyond the time when the person would otherwise be released.

Throughout the past few months, the Sheriff’s Office has held meetings to review (AB4), The Trust Act Bill which went into effective January 1, 2014. The Trust Act prohibits law enforcement agencies from detaining an individual solely on the basis of a U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detainer after the individual becomes eligible for release from custody. It does, however, allow detainments based upon specific criteria such as their criminal history.

Due to recent court decisions in both Oregon and Pennsylvania, several counties will no longer honor requests from federal immigration authorities to continue detaining inmates after they are eligible for release.

The Sheriff’s Office is in the process of revising Custody Division Policy and Procedure 4.1.1, “Booking,” to reflect the changes. Until the policy is issued, the following “Interim Directive” will be followed:

“Effective immediately, all inmates currently being held solely on an immigration detainer will be released from custody. No inmate will be held on an immigration detainer once they are eligible for release. This does not include inmates with pending criminal charges that would normally be held for criminal proceedings.”