In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday, the chief justice of California’s Supreme Court asked federal immigration officials to stop pursuing undocumented immigrants at state courthouses.
03/17/17 SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Maria Dineza | Courthouse News Service
“Courthouses should not be used as bait in the necessary enforcement of our country’s immigration laws,” Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote, adding that she is concerned about “reports from some of our trial courts that immigration agents appear to be stalking undocumented immigrants in our courthouses to make arrests.”
Cantil-Sakauye’s letter, also sent to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, doesn’t mention any specific courts. But a Judicial Council spokesman said the chief justice has been hearing from judges and attorneys, including some self-help attorneys, about heightened fears and increased sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents hanging around courthouses.
“She’s concerned about access, public safety, and retaining the integrity and sanctity of the courthouse,” he said.
For this reason, Cantil-Sakauye created a California Immigration Information Resource Workgroup, chaired by Judge Samuel Feng in San Francisco and Judge Dalila Corral Lyons in Los Angeles. The group will collect all the immigration resources available in California, and help publicize that information through the courts and legal groups.
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