In January, residents proposed, and city leaders of Menlo Park unanimously passed, a resolution stating that the community stands for the rights and dignity of all of its members, whether they are citizens or not. The resolution promised to proactively safeguard “the rights and privileges of everyone in Menlo Park” — a commendable goal that requires that we continue to assess where we may fall short and strive to do better.
Today, we ask that the city continue its leadership on this issue by revising its policy to ensure that no one is excluded from its protections.
We have come to understand the steep human cost of deportations from the personal stories that have emerged. In Menlo Park and throughout the country, people are saddened and alarmed by the deportation of their longtime immigrant neighbors who are an integral part of our community. We’ve learned of painful family separations, some leaving children without their parents. And we are shocked by reports of inhumane conditions in immigration detention centers across our state.
In pursuit of its January promise, Menlo Park recently passed a “safe city” ordinance. The ordinance exists to dispel the fear of unnecessary deportations. In practice, Menlo Park law enforcement already follows the “safe city” policies, and this new ordinance — with some exceptions — codifies current practice.
The decision to pass the policy was made by those who live here, and the decision to continue to improve it is also rests with residents.
One of the most fundamental of rights in America is due process for all, without exception. Yet, the new ordinance allows local law enforcement to cooperate with immigration officials when individuals have been convicted of certain crimes — even after serving their time for those crimes. Through this provision, due process may be denied to certain immigrants, as the policy fails to take into account the way that immigrants are already affected by criminal proceedings.
It is important to realize that our criminal justice system already works to punish immigrants twice. Even convictions for low-level offenses have the potential to cause catastrophic consequences for immigrants, including obstacles to obtaining citizenship, harsher sentences than those imposed on U.S. citizens (see tinyurl.com/harshpunish17), and permanent separation from their homes and families.
Those representing immigrants in court have a constitutional duty to advise and defend against these consequences, yet often aren’t armed with the resources to meet this duty. Our immigration laws are so broken and misaligned with our local criminal law, that immigrants will sometimes plead to more serious offenses simply because they will not lead to deportation, as some lesser charges do.
The recent policy compounds this injustice by indicating that certain individuals — even after paying their debt to society — should be transferred to federal immigration custody, codifying a double-standard for immigrants alone.
The current federal administration has a laser focus on targeting immigrants in the name of public safety, perpetuating harmful stereotypes, despite evidence (see tinyurl.com/sanctuary01-17) that crime has gone down in areas where immigration has increased. Half of the children in our state have an immigrant parent (see tinyurl.com/calkids17), and we must make sure that we curb the unnecessary detention and deportation of anyone who calls Menlo Park home.
Let’s start a conversation about why we would create any due process exceptions to the local immigration policy, especially when our immigrant residents already feel marginalized and targeted by the federal government. We should let our law enforcement community know that there are no circumstances under which we want them to unnecessarily cooperate with federal immigration authorities, like ICE, which has a long history of violating the law to arrest and detain immigrants.
We commend local leaders for taking bold steps on this crucial issue. We also ask that we revise this policy as soon as possible, to remove all exceptions and ensure that our immigrant residents all receive access to this valuable policy, consistent with our values.
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