Board cites community impact of federal immigration operations
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on Tuesday to terminate contracts that had given U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection access to two local training facilities. The agreements covered a county-owned firing range near the Mexican border and a Navy facility the county leases.
The two agencies conduct immigration enforcement and customs and immigration checks along the busy U.S.-Mexico border. Under the contracts, the agencies had regular access to train at both facilities.
Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, one of three supervisors who voted to end the agreements, framed the board’s decision in terms of the impact of federal immigration operations on local residents.
“Federal immigration agents have harmed our communities many different ways here locally and throughout the nation,” she said. “We just don’t want to be complicit in that.”
The vote was driven by stated concerns about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement approach.