As Numbers Drop, Advocates Push for End of ICE Pickups at Santa Barbara Jail
From 2020 to 2021, Number of Inmates Picked up by ICE Cut by Half, According to Sheriff’s Report
During the latest TRUTH Act forum at the County Board of Supervisors last week, Sheriff Bill Brown reported that the number of undocumented individuals released from Santa Barbara County Jail and picked up by ICE for deportation dropped from 12 in 2020 to six last year. But while the number continues to drop, community advocates raise the debate over whether the collaboration between the two agencies should continue at all.
Sheriff Brown called the issue “fraught with political agenda and emotion on both sides,” but maintained that the few individuals whose release dates are reported to ICE were “career criminals” and “repeat offenders” with lengthy criminal histories, and that the county has to achieve a balance between protecting the rights of individuals and protecting the community as a whole.
“We are keenly aware that a vast majority of undocumented people in our county are hardworking community members,” Brown said. “We’re not interested in seeing fieldworkers, service workers, and others who may be undocumented and have no serious criminal history, facing deportation.”
