After years of organizing, the DC Council is set to pass the Sanctuary Values Act, a bill that will permanently ban cooperation between DC agencies and ICE.
While the Sanctuary Values Act prevents the DC Jail, MPD, and other DC agencies from working with ICE, the bill does not currently protect immigrants at DC's courthouse, where US Marshals routinely release DC residents to ICE.
The ICE Out of DC Coalition is fighting for an amendment to protect immigrants at our courthouse from arrest by ICE. The amendment would allow DC residents held at the courthouse the option of being out-processed at the DC Jail instead of the courthouse where ICE has a presence. It is safer for immigrants to be released at the DC Jail because it's controlled by the District and covered by the protections of the Sanctuary Values Act. This amendment could address DC's largest sanctuary loophole and prevent many DC residents from being detained by ICE.
DC’s cooperation with ICE instills fear in our communities and undermines the values of a Sanctuary City. It separates families and places our immigrant neighbors in harm’s way. In a city that already has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country, it creates a separate, even crueler criminal justice system for immigrants who otherwise would be released.
The Sanctuary Values Act will stop the DC Jail from cooperating with ICE and ban MPD from doing ICE's bidding. Now we must ensure that immigrants at DC's courthouse are also protected.
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