Public Safety Is Under Attack — And I’m Fighting Back

The TRUTH Act Hearing we held last week revealed something deeply disturbing — and it's just the tip of the iceberg.

In 2024, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department transferred 30 individuals to ICE. These weren’t minor infractions — they had been arrested a combined 108 times, for crimes like DUI, assault, and robbery.

Even more disturbing, 13 of these individuals would not have been transferred to ICE if the Sheriff had followed the “Super Sanctuary” policy passed by my colleagues last year. I’m grateful our Sheriff chose public safety over politics by refusing to enforce this reckless policy. 

But the fact remains: California law is stacked against public safety. It restricts law enforcement from even sharing basic release information with federal immigration authorities — even when someone has committed violent crimes.

We’ve seen the devastating result of these failed policies.

In 2021, Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano, an illegal immigrant who had already been deported twice, slammed into a car on the 405 freeway while high, drunk, and speeding at 100 mph. He killed two innocent teenagers — Anya Varfolomeev and Nikolay Osokin, both just 19 — and left them to burn alive.

That man had a long criminal history. He should have been deported. He never should’ve had another chance to kill.

And now? The state is letting him out early. After just over three years of a 10-year sentence, he’s being released — because California’s leadership believes criminals deserve mercy, and victims deserve silence.

This is what we’re up against.

We need laws that prioritize victims over criminals, support law enforcement, and allow ICE to do its job. It’s time to restore common sense, accountability, and safety to our neighborhoods.

I’ll keep fighting. And I won’t stop until we put public safety first — and end the policies that keep putting Americans last.

by San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond | May 9, 2025

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