OC City Releases Data on Immigration Status of All Persons Jailed

The Orange County Register (here) reports that the City of Costa Mesa in Orange County, California on Friday began releasing to the public the immigration status of every inmate at the Costa Mesa jail.   This move by the City could stir up the already tense dispute over the city’s immigration policies. The city’s arrest log already gave the name, date and time of arrest, arrest charges, location of arrest, city of residence, gender, race and date of birth of every person arrested by Costa Mesa police. But starting Friday, the log also includes which inmates are suspected of violating immigration laws. Costa Mesa’s Police Department is the only law enforcement agency in Orange County to make such information available to the public. In December, Costa Mesa became the only city in the OC to have an agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement assigned to its jail full time, screening inmates for immigration violations before they are transferred to county jail.

It seems likely that this new measure will further alienate immigrants from reporting amd providing information about crimes to the Costa Mesa police.  Many local police departments have policies that bar inquiry into the immigration status of residents for fear of discouraging immigrant cooperation with police in law enforcement activities.

KJ