County Supervisor Candidates Have No Love for New Immigration Policy

Two high-profile candidates for a recently vacated seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors said on Monday they oppose a controversial new county policy that aims to prevent county resources from being used to aid federal immigration enforcement. 

The early opposition to the policy in the race to replace recently resigned District 1 Supervisor Nora Vargas suggests the policy, which drew national attention, faces an uncertain future and could be short-lived, depending on who ultimately takes Vargas’ seat on the board. 

“I thought that was a mistake,” said Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre of the new immigration policy in an interview Monday. Aguirre, a Democrat widely viewed as the most progressive of the four candidates vying to replace Vargas, said that “our communities have the right to feel safe, and I would have taken a different approach.” 

Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, the lone Republican in the race, also called the policy “a mistake.” 

“If you support law enforcement, you want to make sure murderers, rapists and violent criminals are taken out of your community,” McCann said. “Our immigrant community is a very special community, and by allowing these violent criminals to go back [from jail to the community], it puts our immigrants who are trying to come to the United States fairly at risk.” 

Even Board Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, who voted for the policy, said defending it would not be one of her top priorities this year. “I stand by my vote, but it’s not where my energy is going whatsoever,” Lawson-Remer said on Tuesday. “If there was to be a threat of mass deportations [under the administration of incoming President Donald Trump], this would not be a useful tool.” 

The new county policy, enacted by the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 10, prohibits county agencies from cooperating with federal authorities on civil immigration matters, including notifying authorities when undocumented immigrants convicted of felonies are scheduled to be released from jail. 

Federal authorities would need a warrant to learn the jail release date, an additional hurdle to detaining and deporting immigrants convicted of crimes. 

The policy drew a sharp rebuke from County Sheriff Kelly Martinez, who said her agency would continue to follow state law, which limits certain forms of law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities but makes exceptions for certain crimes. 

Allies of incoming President Donald Trump also denounced the policy. Tom Homan, Trump’s appointed “border czar,” called the policy “disastrous” and said he would “seek prosecution” of local officials who thwart federal immigration efforts. Trump has promised a nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants, including possible mass deportation of immigrants and their families. 

Given Martinez’s opposition, Aguirre said she questioned both the substance and the intent of the new immigration policy. 

“What was the point of the policy?” she said. “The policy won’t be enforced by the top enforcer of the law in the county. So is it, what, symbolic?…I do not support mass deportation. I do not support stripping naturalized citizens or asylum seekers from their rights…But I think you also have to be realistic.” 

The new county policy was proposed and championed by then-Board Chair Nora Vargas. “We will not allow our local resources to be used for actions that separate families, harm community trust or divert critical local resources away from addressing our most pressing challenges,” Vargas said in a statement after the policy was approved by a 3-1 Board vote. 

Ten days later, Vargas unexpectedly resigned from the Board, citing unspecified “safety and security” reasons. Vargas had just won re-election in November to a second four-year term. Her abrupt departure left the board deadlocked between two Democratic and two Republican supervisors.

Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond, who opposed the immigration policy, said on Tuesday he would “absolutely” seek to overturn the policy if a likeminded candidate replaced Vargas. 

“I’d put forward a board letter to rescind the previous action and get rid of the roadblock my colleagues put in place to” cooperating with federal authorities, Desmond said. “I’ve had people from both sides of the aisle saying this was the wrong thing to do.” —Supervisor Jim Desmond

The Board plans to decide next week whether to appoint a replacement for Vargas or, as widely expected, hold a special election. 

Four candidates have announced their intention to replace Vargas, including Aguirre, McCann, San Diego City Councilmember Vivan Moreno and Chula Vista City Councilmember Carolina Chavez. 

Moreno and Chavez did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the immigration policy. 

Aguirre said it would be a mistake to assume that, because she is a Latina seeking to represent a majority Latino district, she and her constituents automatically support a policy like the one enacted last month. 

“As Latinos, we’re not a monolith,” she said. “I’m about good, efficient governance. That’s not about grandstanding, but it’s about putting people first…We need to find ways to approach this from a commonsense perspective.” 

By Jim Hinch | January 7, 2025 | Voice of San Diego

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