Manteca Police will abide by California law when it comes to how city residents that are not legally in the United States are treated.
That means Manteca Police officers cannot:
*ask for immigration status, even on a call for service.
*arrest a person for only having a deportation order or any other federal immigration hold.
*use immigrant officials — Immigration Customs Enforcement agents, or Broder Patrol agents — as interpreters.
*share personal information such as home addresses with ICE or the Border Patrol.
Also, the department has de-selected sharing data gleaned from license plate readers installed throughout the city with other agencies except law enforcement agencies within California.
That is because ICE and the Border Patrol could use such information gleaned from license plate readers to track down immigrants of they have the license plates of vehicles they drive.
Police Chief Stephen Schluer made those points in a statement read during Tuesday’s City Council meeting after two Manteca residents brought up concerns that the city might not protect the civil rights of residents.
The points that the chief outlined that “I will not do” — which also goes for the rest of the Manteca Police Department — is part of the California Cares Act (Senate Bill 54) signed into law in October 2017 by then Gov. Jerry Brown after it was approved by the legislature.
“I am employed by the City of Manteca but I am a police officer for the State of California,” Schluer said Tuesday. “We will enforce the laws of the State of California.”
“And when it comes to ICE and the Border Patrol, not only are we prohibited by law in doing that (cooperating with ICE and the Border Patrol), I want people to feel safe in our town. I want people to have the feeling if they are a victim of a crime that they can call the police.”
“And they are not going to be run though the system or they are not going to have the fear of them, or the rest of their family, being deported.”
“That’s where I stand and the rest of my police department stands.”
Schluer added that officers can be charged with misdemeanors for violating the 2017 law.
Omar Guerrero, was one of the two citizens that spoke before the council under public comments about immigration enforcement.
He is a 25-year resident of Manteca and a US citizen born in San Jose.
“I’ve had the great privilege of being pretty successfully in this country,” he said.
Guerrero is a graduate of both Siera High and UC Merced. He is a community organizer in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.
“As of yesterday, Jan. 20, my story and my ability to do well in this country . . . is under attack,” Guerrero said. “And it is under attack by our executive branch of this country.”
He emphasized “our human rights” are being attacked given federal immigration officials have been known to stop people on the street and in workplaces based on appearance, race, ethnicity or the fact they may not speak English.
There have been numerous instances over the years of American citizens — even second or third generation citizens — arbitrarily being stopped by ICE agents on a hunch based on observations made via the aforementioned areas such as appearance and language.
“We, at this meeting, all stood and pledged allegiance to that wonderful flag over there and this wonderful country,” Guerrero added. “And we all promised we would be indivisible under one flag bringing justice for all.”
Gurrero said the city officials needed to act “to protect the rights of American citizens like myself and potential American citizens
He encouraged Manteca to adopt a resolution proclaiming Manteca a sanctuary city.
Javier Guerrero, who has also been a resident of Manteca for 20 plus years.
He noted the constitution requires law enforcement to have probable cause that a crime has been committed before detaining a citizen and not on a “hunch, race, appearance, ethnicity, or language.”
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
