STATE CAPITOL PO. BOX 942849 [11 SACRAMENTO, CA 94249-0017 CAEZPIH (910) 319-2017 . . . FAX (916) 319-2117 giegtzlahxre DISTRICT OFFICE COMMITTEES 455 GOLDEN GATE AVENUE, ROOM 14300 CHAIR: HOUSING AND COMMUNITY SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102 DAVID CHIU DEVELOPMENT (415) 557-3013 HEE ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS, FAX (415) 557-3015 .3 TOURISM, AND INTERNET MEDIA DISTRICT BUDGET BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS JUDICIARY BUDGET NO. 4 ON April 5, 2018 STATE ADMINISTRATION Sheriff David Livingston Captain Kristi Butterfield Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff 651 Pine Street Martinez, CA 94553 David Jennings, Field Office Director Richard Chang, Assistant Field Office Director San Francisco Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 630 Sansome Street, Rm 590 San Francisco, CA, 94111 Re: Termination of CIVIC Visitation Program at West County Detention Facility Dear Sheriff Livingston, Captain Butterfield, Field Office Director Jennings, and Assistant Field Office Director Chang: We wish to express our deep concerns regarding the termination on March 5, 2018 of the visitation program operated by Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement for people held in immigration detention at the West County Detention Facility (WCDF). In addition, we are troubled by the termination on February 15, 2018 of free and unmonitored telephone extension at WCDF through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pro bono extension platform. visitation program at WCDF and at other immigration detention facilities around the country have enabled local community members and people in immigration detention to engage in visits that are crucial to supporting immigrants? well?being while in detention. IVIany immigrants detained at WCDF, especially people who are transferred there upon requesting asylum at US land borders or airports, are unable to contact people on the outside when they arrive at the facility. Others are incarcerated far from their loved ones or cannot communicate with them due to expensive phone calls. As a result of their separation from the outside world, people in immigration detention at WCDF are disconnected from family, friends, and support systems necessary to their emotional well?being. They also need help obtaining evidence, documents, entry into rehabilitation programs, and sponsors for their immigration cases and their ultimate release. CIVIC volunteers assist people in immigration detention with these crucial tasks and help to alleviate their isolation and sense of powerlessness. Based on work building visitation programs across our state, our California Legislature honored co-founders Christina Mansfield and Christina Fialho with a special resolution on the Senate floor 1CIVIC is in the process of changing its name to ?Freedom for Immigrants.? Printed on Recycled Paper in Sacramento earlier this month. Since 2011, and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) San Francisco Field Office have worked in tandem with CIVIC to facilitate the visitation program at WCDF. In fact, the first visitation program CIVIC started in the state was at WCDF. This is commedable work, and we want to see work continued at WCDF. program is staffed by people from local faith-based communities, universities, nonprofit organizations, and other interested individuals. These volunteers, as well as many of the people in immigration detention at WCDF, are our constituents. Alongside the visitation program, ICE has facilitated contact between people held in immigration detention and CIVIC staff and volunteers by providing CIVIC with a free and unmonitored phone extension through its pro bono telephone platform. The timing of the decision to terminate the CIVIC visitation program at WCDF raises real concerns that the termination was motivated by the First Amendment-protected activity of CIVIC staff and volunteers, rather than by alleged violations of policies and procedures. CIVIC has been engaged in the same types of visitation activities for several years with few, if any, problems. In November 2017, CIVIC volunteers publicly expressed their concerns about degrading conditions and systemic abuses suffered by people held at WCDF. Newspaper articles and radio interviews featured CIVIC volunteers and staff providing their knowledge of improper treatment by deputies of people held at WCDF??including denial of bathroom access, restrictions on hygiene items, and inadequate medical care?and their ongoing concerns over such treatment. The purported policy violations cited by as the basis for the program termination are mainly longstanding practices of CIVIC volunteers that has long been aware of, as the ACLU of Northern California explained in its recent letter to your offices.2 Using standard practices to justify the termination, on the heels of the volunteers? First Amendment-protected activity, raises a strong inference that the reasons given are pretextual. The past cooperation of and ICE with CIVIC has enriched the lives not only of the people detained at WCDF but also of the volunteers who meet with them. The recent actions by and ICE have done a disservice to CIVIC, its volunteers, and many people in WCDF that rely upon their support. We urge and ICE to immediately reinstate the CIVIC visitation program and phone extension at WCDF. We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and look forward to your response and our work with you in the future. mb ymember?gvid Chiu, AD 17 5174(0er Beall, SD 15 W?e WW A Senator Cathleen Galgiani, SD 5 Senator Bob Wieckowski, SD 10 2 See