State senator says San Bernardino scrapped idea for federal program requiring ICE cooperation

Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes, who represents San Bernardino, said city leadership has assured her that the city council will not allow the police department to apply for a Department of Justice (DOJ) grant that would have required the city to support immigration enforcement operations.

The council was originally set to vote on Aug. 5 on whether or not the police department could apply to the grant. The morning of the meeting, the item was removed from the agenda; a city official told CALÓ News at the time it was undetermined if or when the council would vote on the item. On Aug. 11, Reyes posted on her social media saying the city council would not be taking up the item at all.

“City leadership has assured me that this issue will not be taken up again, and I take them at their word,” Reyes told CALÓ News in a statement.

Representatives for the City of San Bernardino did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The proposal was initially brought to the city council by Chief of Police Darren Goodman, who sought approval to apply to the DOJ’s Model Cities Initiative Program.

If accepted into the DOJ program, the city would have received between $75 million to $150 million to enact the federally approved policies, including purchasing surveillance technology, including drones and artificial intelligence systems.

Selection for the grant is contingent on an agreement that police departments will “directly [support]” immigration law enforcement operations.

At the time of publication, the San Bernardino Police Department (SBPD) did not reply to a request for comment regarding the city council’s decision to deny Goodman’s request. It is unclear whether the SBPD will pursue other funding to purchase additional surveillance technology.

Public response leads to backtracking

On Aug. 3, two days before the city council was set to vote on the grant application, the San Bernardino-based Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ICIJ) posted on social media about the agenda item; that post received over 4,000 likes and 62 comments.

The group urged members of the public to speak out against the proposal. A petition shared by the group received 548 signatures ahead of the Aug. 5 meeting.

“It's been really encouraging over the last year and a half now to see a lot of organic organizing happening all over, not just in San Bernardino, around immigrant rights, around protecting our immigrant communities,” said Eddie Torres, policy director at ICIJ.

Reyes credits the public response for the city council’s decision to not only delay its vote, but scrap the idea altogether.

“I’m thankful to the community for this victory,” said Reyes. “It was the collective voice of San Bernardino residents, advocates and organizations that put a stop to this proposal … may this moment serve as a constant reminder that justice is possible when we stand together for what’s right.”

Torres said the ICIJ is still “really concerned” that Goodman and city officials brought the proposal forward in the first place. Given California’s strict restrictions on local and state police cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, Torres said the move was “misguided.”

Since the deadline to apply for the DOJ program is Sept. 1, Torres said the coalition will remain vigilant in checking the city council’s agenda to ensure the item is not reintroduced in the next two weeks.

“Everybody is going to be concerned about public safety at all times, but trying to address that in a way where it's directly harming the community that you're sworn to protect and to serve, I think is very misguided and contradictory to what they were sworn in to do,” Torres said. “So I think it shows that there's still a huge gap between where the police [are], and where the community is.”