House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), joined by Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent personalized letters to the police departments and sheriff’s offices in San Diego and San Francisco on Tuesday. The members of Congress demanded information on the cities’ respective sanctuary policies.In California, state law prohibits law enforcement from complying with ICE detainers to hand over illegal immigrants to federal authorities. San Diego’s government passed ordinances to further limit immigration enforcement in the city.
An ordinance approved in April required a judicial warrant for federal immigration officials to access “non-public city property,” and a separate ordinance in late 2024 prohibited county law enforcement from helping ICE with deporting immigrants.
The committee members argued the sanctuary policies endanger the local communities, citing an incident in which an illegal immigrant from Mexico allegedly killed an 11-year-old boy in a hit-and-run last November. The lawmakers pointedly criticized San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez for rejecting the ICE detainer lodged against the suspect.
“In just one year, California’s refusal to honor detainers ‘resulted in the release of 4,561 criminal illegal aliens,’ with crimes ranging from homicide to robbery to assault,” they wrote in one of the four letters.
