With or without 'sanctuary,' Uncle Sam always has the upper hand

Ruben Navarrette Jr. on Mar 1, 2020

Nonetheless, the sheriff's department complied with the subpoenas. As well it should have.

As Sheriff Bill Gore told reporters, the department had no choice. SB 54 was written broadly enough to allow for such cooperation.

There's a big difference between giving ICE agents carte-blanche access to the county jail so they can go "fishing" for dark-skinned inmates who might be in the country illegally and honoring legitimate federal subpoenas for the records of specific individuals.

Anyway, in what has been an underreported part of this story, local sheriffs don't want bad guys in their communities in the first place. They're more than eager to hand them over to ICE -- if they can do so without running afoul of state law.

Gore confirmed as much.

"I think most people in San Diego County when you look at those charges say, 'You know if we could deport this person once their local charges are done and get them out of the country, this would be a better community,'" he said. "So, they are not just being returned to the community and revictimizing people."

And to think, all this happened in a sanctuary city that is located in a sanctuary state -- you know the kind of places that we've been told by both political parties protect the undocumented from immigration agents. Some protection that turned out to be.

America, you've been suckered.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.