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December 3, 2010 | 3:00 PM | By

Explainer: Oakland’s gang injunction evidence

Oakland City Attorney

Oakland's latest gang injunction covers part of the Fruitvale district.

Oakland’s proposed Norteño gang injunction for the Fruitvale neighborhood is gradually making its from the court of public opinion to the courtroom of Alameda Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman. A preliminary hearing yesterday was rescheduled for Wednesday, December 8th at 1 PM, where Oakland law firm Siegel & Yee will ask Judge Freedman to waive filing fees for all 40 defendants and ask for court-appointed attorneys for some named individuals. Another hearing to review the proposed injunction is expected to take place in mid-January.

As the case works its way through the judicial system, City Attorney John Russo has filed court papers detailing the alleged gang activity of the 40 defendants. These documents include the declarations of 139 law enforcement officers, largely from the Oakland Police Department. Because the City Attorney is pursuing a civil action, a “preponderance of evidence” is all that is required to find the 40 named individuals guilty of Norteño affiliation – a lesser burden of evidence than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard that applies to criminal law.

This is standard practice for gang injunction cases – similar documents are available for the North Side Oakland injunction and San Francisco’s four gang injunctions.

We’ve posted some of the filings below, but to save you the hours we spent poring over the documents, here are some critical points.

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FILED UNDER: Courts, Gang Injunctions, ICE, John Russo, Norteno, Oakland, Oakland Police
November 9, 2010 | 2:57 PM | By

Secure Communities: No way out for San Francisco

ICE

Courtesy of ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

It’s official: San Francisco will not be allowed to opt out of Secure Communities, a federal fingerprint-sharing program that targets undocumented immigrants. Sheriff Mike Hennessey met with officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement this morning for about an hour and a half. Eileen Hirst, the sheriff’s chief of staff, says that the head of Secure Communities, David Venturella, told them that if a state signs up for the program, cities and counties don’t have a choice. That means San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Arlington, Virginia will continue to have their jailhouse fingerprints sent to an ICE database. The only locality that’s been able to get out of the program is Washington DC, which isn’t under the jurisdiction of any state.

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FILED UNDER: Police, ICE, Immigration, San Francisco Sheriff's Department, Secure Communities
October 28, 2010 | 12:26 PM | By

Q&A: Attorney Angela Chan on immigrants and policing

Asian Law Caucus

Today, a group of immigrants rights advocates filed an emergency injunction to obtain Immigration and Customs Enforcement files related to the department’s Secure Communities program.

San Francisco was brought into the program in June. Run through Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the program uses fingerprints collected at local jails to track undocumented immigrants who are accused or convicted of crimes. The program has come under fire from immigrants rights groups, as well as San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors and county Sheriff Mike Hennessey for deporting non-criminals and straining the relationship between police and immigrant communities. According to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, approximately 26 percent of those deported through the program have been non-criminals and 70 percent have been accused or convicted of low-level offenses. San Francisco has tried to stop participating in the program, but has not been able to opt out so far. Angela Chan, an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus and a member of San Francisco’s Police Commission, has been among the city’s critics of Secure Communities. I sat down with Chan in her office earlier this week.

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FILED UNDER: Police, Angela Chan, ICE, Immigration, San Francisco Sheriff's Department, Secure Communities
October 25, 2010 | 11:11 AM | By

Report: Missing funds from immigration oversight

ICE

Courtesy of ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Before there was Secure Communities, the federal fingerprint sharing program that’s the subject of much recent controversy, there was 287(g). Brought into being in 1995, the program allows local police to be deputized as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Once they receive training, the officers are authorized to identify, process, and detain undocumented immigrants they encounter while out and about working as police officers. The idea was to make it easier to deport undocumented immigrants who commit serious crimes.

As with Secure Communities, controversy has followed 287(g). The New York Times published a series of reports and editorials criticizing the program for interfering with police-community relations, discounting immigrants rights, and not sticking to its stated purpose of targeting serious criminals.

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FILED UNDER: Police, 287(g), ICE, Immigration, Secure Communities
October 20, 2010 | 4:14 PM | By

Creative ways to get out of federal programs

ICE

Courtesy of ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

We reported last week on a potential back door out of the federal Secure Communities program, which shares fingerprints between the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. San Francisco has been trying to get out of the program since before it was implemented here in June. But it’s unclear whether the ICE will let the county out. And for now, for each person who’s booked at the county jail, their fingerprints are sent to ICE, and if the agency suspects they’re in the country illegally, they can ask the sheriff to detain the person for 48 hours. ICE had previously identified ways for communities to opt out of the program (as some are concerned that it’s using police to round up undocumented immigrants and sours the relationship between police and immigrant communities). A couple weeks ago, ICE started saying that communities have no choice: jails already send info on arrestees to the FBI to see if there are interstate warrants or federal investigations into whoever they book–ICE says they’ll just continue to get information on those arrested from their federal partner. But it turns out, local communities have their own options as well, and there may be some back doors out of the program. Namely, communities like San Francisco could:

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FILED UNDER: Police, Politics, ICE, Immigration, San Francisco, San Francisco Sheriff's Department, Secure Communities
October 18, 2010 | 5:15 PM | By

Evening LinkUp: Tune in this very minute to 91.7fm! And more of today’s news.

NOTE: We’ve got the Oakland Mayoral candidates debating live (5-6pm) tonight on 91.7fm; also you can call in with questions: (415) 841-4134

Border Patrol arrests fall 17 percent in 2010 ICE says weak economy and crackdown mean fewer crossing border. (Sacramento Bee)

Grand jury investigating Vernon official’s business deal with wife More trouble with city officials in the wake of the Bell scandal. (latimesblogs.latimes.com)

One-Third of Gay Middle Schoolers In S.F. Have Attempted Suicide, Study Claims Also more likely to have tried drugs and alcohol. (blogs.sfweekly.com)

Is it legal to break into foreclosed homes? Maybe, if the paperwork wasn’t done correctly. Or maybe not. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Oakland’s wanna-be mayors weigh in on monitoring police Some would expand, others eliminate civilian oversight of the city’s police department. (peopleunited.org)

FILED UNDER: Politics, Foreclosure, ICE, Immigration, Oakland, police oversight, Public Officials
October 15, 2010 | 2:59 PM | By

Afternoon LinkUp: Crime politics and green card marriages

Whitman, Brown campaigns test the limits of truth Including when it comes to each others’ stances on crime and punishment. (Los Angeles Times)

ICE agent saves Iraqi antiquity In international art deal investigation. (ice.gov)

Ask Officer Michelle – When is it Gang Colors? Man worries about son’s clothes in lieu of school dress code. (sacramentopress.com)

Sandra Day O’Connor on Judicial Elections, Supreme Court’s New Players And Citizens United: “I can only say that it is a source of serious concern.” (PBS NewsHour)

In a Green Card marriage? Don’t post Facebook pics of you smooching someone else. (The Washington Independent)

FILED UNDER: Courts, Politics, ICE, Immigration, Jerry Brown, Meg Whitman, US Supreme Court
October 12, 2010 | 3:10 PM | By

Secure Communities: Could SF just ignore ICE?

ICE

Courtesy of ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security, has come out and confirmed what had previously been rumored. The Washington Independent reports that Napolitano, in a press conference in DC last week, said the agency doesn’t “consider Secure Communities an opt in/opt out program.”

Secure Communities, as a refresher, is a federal program that’s been growing for the past couple of years. Basically, in any state that chooses to participate, when a person is booked at a local jail, their fingerprints are shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE can then check those fingerprints against their database to try to determine if the person is an undocumented immigrant. If ICE thinks the person is subject to deportation, they can choose to place a hold on that person–which means the jail will keep that person for 48 hours, giving ICE the opportunity to pick them up and begin deportation proceedings. ICE says it’s a great way to get to undocumented immigrants who’re committing crimes in the US. Critics say it’s a sneaky way of using local police to round up undocumented immigrants. And some localities, including San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, want out. (Officials in other counties, like LA–where an estimated fifth of the jail population is undocumented immigrants–are thrilled with the program.)

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FILED UNDER: Police, Politics, Angela Chan, ICE, Immigration, San Francisco, Secure Communities, Sheriff Mike Hennessey