Good morning, supervisors.
My name is Felicia Gomez. I am the senior policy advocate for immigrants' rights at the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties.
We strongly oppose agenda item #9, which would repeal the San Diego County sanctuary policy, otherwise known as Board Policy L-2, which passed in December 2024.
This policy is an achievement that took years to accomplish and serves as a milestone in our ongoing work to end all collaboration between the San Diego Sheriff’s Department (SDSD) and Department of Homeland Security agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.
San Diego County’s sanctuary policy ensures that our limited local resources are used to address local needs, rather than fund the federal government’s mass deportation agenda. Repealing this policy would betray our values, roll back our hard-fought progress and harm our border county.
State and federal law makes it clear that local governments have every right to focus their resources on serving their own residents, instead of voluntarily choosing to collaborate with ICE.
In fact, the San Diego Sheriff Department’s voluntary collaboration with ICE costs San Diego County taxpayers' tens of thousands of dollars annually. SDSD transfers facilitate the deportation work of the federal government, but the federal government does not reimburse San Diego County for the cost of transfers. This means local taxpayers' foot the bill. This is money that could be invested in critical resources to support all county residents instead of tearing immigrant families apart.
We are disappointed to see our county’s sanctuary policy be used as a pawn to fearmonger, elevate anti-immigrant rhetoric and sow division, both locally and on the national stage. In this moment, we need our elected officials to take bold action to bring our communities together to protect the progress that San Diego County has achieved.
We urge the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to vote no on agenda item #9 and to stand strong with the immigrant communities you represent across the county.
Thank you.
