At least four counties in Washington state and four in Colorado have joined a growing number of jurisdictions in Oregon that stopped holding undocumented immigrants in jail for the sole purpose of deportation.
Walla Walla, Kitsap and Thurston counties in Washington changed their policies after a federal judge overseeing a Clackamas County case ruled that local law enforcement is not required to comply with such requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The court said they could be held liable on constitutional grounds if such requests were carried out without probable cause.
The Yakima Herald reported Thursday that Yakima County also had changed its policy.
In Colorado, sheriffs in Denver, Boulder, Mesa and San Miguel counties have stopped honoring ICE detainer requests.
Under the Secure Communities program, immigration officials can ask police to keep a cleared inmate in custody at the locality's expense, giving ICE agents time to retrieve the individual for possible deportation. Immigration officials must now provide a court order or warrant to hold undocumented inmates past their required jail time.
Maria Miranda-Olivares sued Clackamas County after she was sentenced to 48 hours but jailed for more than two weeks because of an immigration detainer, unable to post bail. She had been arrested March 14, 2012, on a domestic violence charge.
So far, 29 Oregon counties have changed their detainer policies since the April 11 court decision.
The recent changes in those three states illustrate a growing split from Secure Communities. The Huffington Post recently reported that it is complicating the Obama administration's delicate attempt to fix U.S. immigration policy.
Read more about the policy changes:
Washington counties dropping immigrant jail holds -- Seattle P.I.
Yakima County says it won’t grant immigration holds on inmates -- Yakima Herald
Immigration detainer changes spreading across Oregon; national implications possible -- The Oregonian
