The Marin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to pass a temporary moratorium on detention centers.
The Nov. 10 urgency ordinance will establish a detention center moratorium in the unincorporated parts of the county. County staff said there are currently no requests for a facility, but because these requests have popped up elsewhere in the Bay Area, they want to get ahead of the issue.
Similar ordinances have passed in Monterey and San Mateo counties.
The rule is effective immediately, but is temporary. It will last 45 days — though it can be extended. During this time, county staff will assess Marin’s policies and the community impact of a hypothetical detention center.
County staff have voiced concerns about the way one could impact the community.
“Industrial or high-security detention facilities are frequently proposed near low-income, industrial, or agricultural zones, exacerbating existing environmental and infrastructure inequities in those specific neighborhoods,” Julia Krog, Deputy Director of Planning Services wrote in a staff report presented at the Nov. 10 meeting.
The urgency ordinance passed unanimously. But No ICE in Marin — a coalition of 16 grassroots organizations — says the ordinance is a “diversion” much like the county’s new policy limiting ICE’s ability to operate in the county, which the group doesn’t think goes far enough.
No ICE in Marin says it’s not opposed to a moratorium on detention centers, but has been demanding that the county adopt a broader law banning all county cooperation with ICE.
Dozens of community members rallied outside the Marin County Civic Center before yesterday’s meeting, including students from San Rafael High School, who were chaperoned by their principal Jose Dominguez.
Kira Kraft, a student at San Rafael High said that the presence of immigration agents is creating a culture of fear in Marin County.
“No amount of hate or discrimination is going to deter me and my fellow students and this community from standing up for what is right and making sure what needs to be done is done,” Kraft said to the crowd.
Just last month, ICE detained 18 Marin County residents — more than all of last year, according to the Marin Rapid Response Network, which tracks immigration activity in the county.
Supervisor Dennis Rodoni said during the meeting that these numbers would be higher if there were a detention center in the Bay Area “because that's the one deterrent for ICE, is they don't have a detention center anywhere near the Bay Area," he said.
The temporary detention center moratorium in Marin can be extended up to two years.
