Concerns have heightened in Northern California following a series of immigrant detentions during unusual weekend check-ins at an ICE office in Stockton. About half of the nearly 50 undocumented immigrants who reported to ICE's Stockton office last Saturday were detained, as immigration advocates described to the San Francisco Chronicle. This action seems to be part of a concerted effort which might have been set to quickly ramp up detentions.
In a direct challenge to established norms, advocates are accusing ICE of utilizing routine check-in procedures to intentionally spread fear among immigrant communities. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the detainees included an asylum seeker and a sole breadwinner for his family. Reportedly, ICE officials temporarily barred entry to immigration attorneys, contradicting their rights to counsel and accusing them of being fake attorneys, even after presenting their State Bar Association cards— this was shared by Lisa Knox, co-executive director of the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ).
Adding to the disconcerting atmosphere, protesters gathered outside the Stockton field office to express their opposition to these detentions. This gathering, documented by KCRA 3, corresponds with a similar protest cadence that occurred in San Francisco and Fresno, underscoring the growing unease regarding ICE's latest strategies.
Individuals affected by these detentions were said to be part of the "Alternatives to Detention" program, which allows them to live at home while their immigration cases are being processed. ICE's own website claims about 7.6 million immigrants are currently enrolled in the program, aimed at enabling these individuals to remain within their communities. Nonetheless, weekend summons to report to ICE offices, which generally operate only during weekdays, appear to contravene the very existence of such a program meant to replace detention with supervision.
While ICE has not provided comments on these recent actions, their absence in response has done little to quell the heightened sense of urgency advocates feel. Edwin Carmona-Cruz, CCIJ’s other co-executive director, told the San Francisco Chronicle, "These people have been complying with the law. ICE already decided to release or not detain them, and now they are arbitrarily being called in and detained for no other reason than their quotas." The motivations behind this weekend's detentions, conflicting with the standard operating hours and stated objectives of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, remain unclear and a point of considerable contention.
