ICE has been active in Escondido…and the City of Escondido has
been active with ICE.
No one expected ICE to ignore Escondido. Many in Escondido
would agree that if there is illegal activity that our laws should be enforced.
But the majority of Escondido residents also recognize that the rule of law is
a two-way street – that not only do citizens and non-citizens residing in the
United States must follow the law, so do we expect the government and law
enforcement to abide by the Constitution, law and decency.
ICE does not play by the rules…and the rules they choose to
ignore have included warrant-less
invasion of homes, the trauma of masked men in unmarked vehicles grabbing
people off the streets without identifying who they are and the reasons for
their actions; ignoring their Constitutional rights for due process; both legal
immigrants and US citizens caught in ICE’s wide net and improperly detained; excessive
force against both those they apprehend and observers; inflicting physical harm
on many ranging from pepper spraying the face of a one-year-old to a total of
53 deaths of those in ICE custody or during an ICE raid during the past 12
months including six this month alone.
Because of this – and in particular light of the filmed
evidence of the recent killing of two US citizens who were using their cell
phones to film ICE activity – the majority of Escondido residents do not want
our city partnering in any way with ICE.
Therefore, it is disturbing and unacceptable that the City of
Escondido signed a contract with ICE on January 14th to allow ICE to
practice shooting at our Police Department’s firing range in exchange for
$67,500.
ICE will train 200 agents 20 days per year annually in
groups of 20. According to the ICE San Diego field office, they needed “a
secluded location” that would accommodate training with firearms and tactical
medical exercises.
The need for “seclusion” and unsupervised privacy makes
residents still more suspicious of ICE operatives who already make citizens
both uncomfortable and afraid in that they prefer to wear masks to hide their
identity.
The City Council has scheduled discussion on the contract at
the February 25th City Council meeting as public concern and
pressure has mounted. At this hearing the contract not only needs to be
discussed, but the judgement that failed to see that it would be problematic
within the community also needs to be addressed. The City Attorney must be
directed to review the contract and determine how the contract might be voided.
If not legally able to cancel the contract, then they should consider how to
amend it to place restrictions on ICE and require objective supervision of ICE
proceedings during their training exercises.
The City demonstrated poor judgement in not being able to
identify the mood and concerns of the community they serve, if not also
revealing a shared mindset when it comes to how ICE operates. It makes no
difference that prior administrators had cooperated with ICE…that was
pre-Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Nome ICE. The City negotiated a new
contract and signed this pact with ICE one week after the Rene Good killing and
after a year of observing this edition of ICE’s terrorizing tactics.
Given the documented measures of inappropriate methods and
cruelty by ICE Escondido does not want to see similar incidents victimize our
residents. We don’t want children pulled out of their schools. We don’t want a five-year-old
child used as bait to trap his father. We don’t want a one-year-old pepper
sprayed. We don’t want a disabled woman yanked from her car. We don’t want an
innocent 56-year-old man taken from his home without warrant wearing nothing
but his underwear and left standing in freezing temperatures. We don’t want
someone executed by ICE thugs for attempting to aid a woman shoved onto the
ground by ICE while filming their deeds with a cell phone.
Our City Council needs to partner with the citizens of
Escondido, not with the masked, unidentified thugs of ICE.
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