Virginia’s Fairfax County ranks third on a new list of sanctuary jurisdictions, with the county jail having refused to cooperate on more than 1,150 deportation “detainer” requests from the Department of Homeland Security over the last 2 1/2 years.
Prince William County in Virginia also ranks high at No. 24 on the list, which the Center for Immigration Studies compiled from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data.
Santa Clara County, California, led the way with nearly 3,000 declined detainers, followed by Cook County Jail in Illinois and then the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
California counties dominate the list’s top 30, with more than 13,000 total declined detainers. There are some other surprises, though, including Hennepin County in Minnesota and Teton County in Wyoming.
The list identified 72 ICE deportation targets who had homicide convictions or charges but were still released.
The Illinois River Correctional Center led the way with six. Santa Clara County also had six that were split between two jails.
Fairfax County tallied two such releases, according to the data. In Maryland, the Baltimore County Detention Center, the Gaithersburg Police Department and the Howard County Detention Center were listed as having released ICE targets with homicide records.
Detainers are requests from ICE to other law enforcement agencies to notify deportation officers before an ICE target is released from their custody and, if possible, to hold the target for up to 48 hours for pickup.
Jurisdictions in recent years have begun resisting, to varying degrees. Some will notify but refuse to hold beyond the regular release time. Other jurisdictions refuse notification. Some will cooperate on more serious cases, particularly when there’s a conviction, but refuse cooperation in cases they deem not to be serious.
Jessica Vaughan, the author of the study, said some jurisdictions appeared on the list even though they are in states that have laws banning noncooperation.
“Sanctuary policies continue to undermine public safety in many communities, despite numerous tragedies, due to misunderstanding of immigration enforcement or, more likely, for political reasons,” Ms. Vaughan said. “They should face consequences for putting the public at risk.”
