Senator Sasha Renée Perez issued the following statement on the FBI urging ICE agents to identify themselves
Senator Sasha Renée Perez issued the following statement on the FBI urging ICE agents to identify themselves
SACRAMENTO – Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena) issued the following statement on the FBI sending a memo to ICE urging agents to identify themselves:
“The FBI’s memo urging ICE agents to identify themselves is a rare moment of rational thought by the federal government. Amid its cruel and aggressive immigration enforcement crackdown, we have seen continuous actions on our streets of people claiming to be law enforcement in unmarked cars, with no uniforms, names or agency name displayed grabbing people off the streets. We have also seen an increase in incidents where non-law enforcement officers are posing as federal immigration agents and preying on vulnerable people to commit crimes. We need to know who is conducting law enforcement on our streets.
“Clear identification and accountability are the motivation behind California’s new law SB 805, the No Vigilantes Act, which I authored. SB 805 will expand existing police impersonation laws to make it illegal to impersonate peace officers, including federal agents, and require all law enforcement operating in California to clearly display identification that includes their agency and either a name or badge number or both. It also will authorize law enforcement to request identification from anyone claiming to be law enforcement, under certain circumstances, and ban bounty hunters from engaging in any form of immigration enforcement in California.
“Our communities, especially immigrant communities, must be able to trust law enforcement as the FBI memo correctly points out. Trust begins with being able to distinguish between real law enforcement and vigilantes. I urge ICE to immediately adopt this FBI directive.”
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Senator Sasha Renée Pérez is Chair of the Senate Education Committee and represents the 25th Senate District that includes the communities of Glendale, Pasadena, Alhambra, Altadena, Arcadia, Claremont, Glendora, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta-Montrose, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, Temple City, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, and San Antonio Heights.