9/4/2008

ACLU Sues ICE and Sonoma County Sheriff for Unlawful Detentions and Racial Profiling

Federal Lawsuit Asserts Sheriff’s Department Exceeded Authority in Immigration-Related Arrests
SAN FRANCISCO—For the past three years, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department has collaborated with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its officers to stop and search people who appear to be Latino, interrogate them about their immigration status based on their perceived race, and detain them in the County jail without lawful authority. The Sheriff’s Department and ICE have failed to notify individuals who they have targeted of their rights under the law and the charges against them, among other violations of the constitutional right to due process.
The ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) filed a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on behalf of three individuals who were unlawfully detained, as well as on behalf of the Committee for Immigrants’ Rights of Sonoma County, a local community organization. Read More

9/3/2008

Sonoma County Japanese Community supports County of Refuge

Sonoma County Chapter of Japanese American Citizens League joined other cities, civil and human rights groups and faith-based institutions to urge the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to support immigrant families and youth and to adopt a measure that would designate Sonoma County as a County of Refuge. See the resolution.