The detainment of Abigail Hernandez by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has exposed holes in Rochester’s Sanctuary City policy, immigrant rights activists say. Hernandez, 21, was arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat against East High School after she allegedly posted threatening language on the school’s Facebook page on February 15.
Hernandez came to the US from Mexico with her parents when she was 3, and qualified for protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. She was arraigned in City Court and was set to be released on bail, but then ICE took her into custody. She now faces deportation.
The handling of Hernandez’s case “exposes serious weaknesses in the Sanctuary resolution,” said Metro Justice, ROCitizen, and Rochester Democratic Socialists of America in a joint statement. Rochester updated its Sanctuary City status in February 2017, outlining that city personnel, including police, will not inquire about people’s immigration status.
Rochester Police Deputy Chief LaRon Singletary says RPD did not notify ICE or inquire about Hernandez’s immigration status. But when people are arrested and booked in New York State, their information, including fingerprints, is entered into a statewide database called eJustice. ICE — and other law enforcement agencies — has access to that database and can issue a detainer for people it believes can be subject to removal from the US, as was the case with Hernandez.
A database like eJustice is useful in policing, but it creates a challenge for cities trying to extend protections to undocumented immigrants. “This is sort of the issue with Sanctuary-type terminology,” says Camille Mackler, director of immigration legal policy at the New York Immigration Coalition. “There isn’t a bubble where ICE can’t come in. It’s not a fortress.”
This article appears in Mar 7-13, 2018.
The real shame in our immigration laws is how inconsistent they are. When I came back from serving my country it took me over two years to bring my bride, Mei Ling, over to the States. And that was over 40 years ago!
However, back to the case being discussed here, it’s a shame what has happened to poor Abigail. And, has anyone noticed that the poor kid is obviously challenged. I think that is the biggest travesty of them all. This poor kid, regardless of citizenship, is in need of professional help and instead of receiving it she is used as a political pawn by people who have only selfish motives.
You should all be ashamed of yourselves!
This defendant is hardly a model for the sanctuary movement. This was a terroristic threat on a public school- not a case of some rogue Maricopa County deputy narc-ing to ICE over a broken taillight.