16 Jun Rep. DeSaulnier Demands Answers From ICE Over Concord Arrests

Federal agents remove a protester from in front of a vehicle containing local immigrants who had attended immigration hearings at the Concord Immigration Court on June 10. (Tony Hicks / Bay City News)

By Tony Hicks
Bay City News

Among other questions, U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Walnut Creek, wants to know why Immigration and Customs Enforcement is conducting raids in his district.

DeSaulnier’s office said Friday he sent a letter to the acting director of ICE urgently requesting information regarding arrests as well as asking for a meeting with the director.

ICE agents have been arresting people at the immigration court in Concord the past two weeks. At least a hundred protesters showed up Tuesday outside Concord Gateway at 1855 Gateway Blvd., where immigration hearings are held on three floors inside the building.

As federal agents led the last two of four asylum-seekers from the building and into a waiting SUV, things turned violent.

Protesters engaged agents, yelling and pushing agents as they struggled to get the detainees into the SUV while other agents pushed protesters out of the way.

Part of the crowd blocked the SUV, prompting officers to try forcibly removing them. At least two women were shoved to the ground. At least one protester slapped an officer in the face after he tried moving her.

“I am deeply disappointed that your agency has chosen to use its resources to target individuals who are showing up to court to go through the proper judicial and legal process — exactly what proponents of immigration enforcement purport to advocate for,” DeSaulnier wrote. “This misguided effort will only result in others avoiding courts and law enforcement entirely.

“As many individuals who need to use these courts are already living in fear, we should be encouraging immigrants to attend court as instructed, not making them even more afraid to appear,” he wrote. “These kinds of underhanded enforcement actions also call into question the Administration’s commitment to the American ideals of law and order and the right to due process.”

DeSaulnier pointed out his district — which includes most of Contra Costa County — has seen dramatic economic expansion due in large part to the growth of the tech industry, which he wrote “would not exist without immigrants who came to the United States seeking freedom from repression and greater economic opportunity like so many others before them, my ancestors and those of most Americans included.”

“The heavy-handed approach to immigration enforcement that this administration is pursuing is particularly out of place in communities like ours, where people know and appreciate the many contributions that immigrants have made to our lives, and understand the dignity that every individual, regardless of immigration status, deserves,” the congressman wrote.

When asked about the letter Friday, an ICE spokesperson said, “ICE responds to congressional correspondence through official channels and by appropriate officials at the agency.”

Raids have also occurred at San Francisco immigration courts the past two weeks. When asked why immigration agents were arresting people who were showing up to scheduled court dates and following the rules, an ICE spokesperson said the detained people were already going to be deported.

The ICE spokesperson also blamed former President Joe Biden’s administration for allegedly being lax on the issue, though Biden deported more people than current President Donald Trump did in his first term.

The ICE spokesperson also said people arrested at court are afforded due process.

The Trump administration bypassed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes and activated thousands of National Guard troops to go to Los Angeles in response to protests against his immigration policy. Trump also deployed 700 Marines to Los Angeles.

DeSaulnier wrote, “the community will not be deterred or intimidated by attempts to provoke chaos, sow division, and violate our constitutional rights.”

In addition to having a meeting with the acting director of ICE, DeSaulnier asked for the number of people with scheduled hearings at the Concord Immigration Court who have been arrested at the court since Jan. 20 of this year when Trump took office.

He also asked for the current location of each of these people, including whether they are still in the United States and the location(s) where new detainees arrested at the Concord court are being taken “given that ICE facilities are reportedly already overcrowded.”

DeSaulnier asked whether people with asylum claims will be able to continue pursuing them after they have been detained by ICE.

The full text of the letter can be found at https://bit.ly/43XW6O7.

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