CITY OF LAS VEGAS SPENT OVER $200K TO HELP ICE DEPORT COMMUNITY MEMBERS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Viridiana Vidal // (702) 206-2110 // vvidal@ndlon.org
Newly Released Records Show City of Las Vegas Spent Over Two Hundred Thousand Dollars to Help ICE Deport Community Members
DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE HERE
LAS VEGAS, NV – In response to a Public Information Request from Arriba Workers Center and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, the City of Las Vegas produced internal records showing that hundreds of Las Vegas residents have been targeted for deportation as a result of voluntary collusion with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the cost of more than $200,000 to Las Vegas taxpayers.
The records show that Las Vegas Department of Public Safety staff consistently engaged in enforcement activities since at least 2017 primarily by notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of detained individuals and release dates, and holding people for days on immigration detainers, also referred to as ICE holds. Federal courts across the country have repeatedly held that detainers, which request detention without any judicial authority, are unconstitutional.
Documentation suggests a shocking lack of transparency and oversight in relation to these voluntary efforts to put local residents into deportation proceedings. Internal policy reveals that the City of Las Vegas department of public safety report any foreign-born individual to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, regardless of whether they are convicted or even charged with any crime. Although updated in May 2017, the internal policy references federal enforcement priorities and programs that ceased to exist months prior to the revision date, ended via executive order in January 2017.
The documents further show that between 2017-2018 Las Vegas Municipal Jail had a direct hand in the deportation proceedings of 1,532 individuals via non-mandatory notifications of detention of anyone foreign born, notifications of release, and extended detention of individuals as a courtesy to ICE. This information clearly shows that Las Vegas law enforcement officials are doing most of the work of identifying deportable individuals with no corresponding additional federal resources. Hundreds of individuals show only low-level misdemeanors, like jaywalking or driving with a broken taillight.
Jessica Karp Bansal, Co-Legal Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said, “The records released today show that the City of Las Vegas is spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to facilitate deportations. By detaining people on legally suspect ICE detainers, the City is also exposing itself to significant legal liability.”
“Each of those 1,532 individuals is a person, with a face, a name, and a family. The impacts of this collusion go far beyond an individual in deportation proceedings, impacting entire families and causing a deep fear within the community” stated Bliss Requa-Trautz, Director of Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center.
Research from 2012, and 2018 has repeatedly shown that Latinos of any immigration status are far less likely to report a crime that they are a victim of or witness to as a result of police-ICE collusion.
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BACKGROUND:
Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center is a grassroots organization that unites day laborers, domestic workers, and other low-wage and migrant workers to defend their rights, fight for dignity and win justice for all.
The Las Vegas Department of Public Safety is a city of Las Vegas division that is distinct from the Sheriff and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Records Requests were directed to the Department of Public Safety Records Division cc’ing City Manager Scott Adams. Corresponding records have been provided by Tyler Gutierrez, a Legal Specialist at the City Attorney’s office, cc’ing Brian Scott, Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City of Las Vegas. Michelle Freedman is the Chief of the City of Las Vegas Department of Public Safety.
Read ICE’s current policy on detainers: https://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Document/2017/10074-2.pdf