The Jurupa Valley City Council this month adopted a resolution aimed at protecting and supporting all residents of the city, regardless of immigration status.
“The federal government is trying to bring chaos here to our communities, and I think this resolution sends a strong message that we’re not going to stand for that, and we’re not going to just stand around watching,” Councilmember Armando Carmona, who prepared much of the resolution, said. “We want to send a message to our community that it’s necessary to defend ourselves, to inform ourselves, to know our rights and to work with our local agencies, our local sheriff’s department.”
Carmona first brought discussion of the resolution to the council at the November 6 meeting in response to an October incident in which residents of the city were victimized by a group of masked, armed people claiming to be federal agents.
“These individuals entered the home, they zip-tied the family — several adults, kids and an elder — and they spent hours robbing and ransacking their home,” Carmona said at the January 15 meeting. “These individuals all had their faces covered, they looked exactly like the masked federal agents that we’re seeing across the country terrorizing our communities.”
The resolution, as unanimously approved, requires federal agencies operating in the city, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to provide clear, visible identification and refrain from wearing face coverings; end the practice of using unmarked, ambiguous uniforms that can be easily copied.
“It is a statement of principles relating to protection of the community and a demand for federal law enforcement officers to be transparent and to allow people to know what’s going on,” City Attorney Peter Thorson said. “It also raises a number of issues relating to confusion and the impacts on residents of Jurupa Valley and crimes that were committed as a part of them.”
It also restricts the use of city property for enforcement staging, including city-owned lots, garages, buildings, parks or vacant land.
“We are saying that we are not giving permission to the federal government to use city property as staging areas or to utilize it in any other way,” Mayor Brian Berkson said. “And that, to me, is the big thing.”
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Additionally, it directs all governmental agencies that do work in the city, including the sheriff’s department, to report all incidents of masked individuals or armed masked individuals operating in the city to the city.
“We do not know about when they come into town, what town they’re going to,” Lt. John Shulda said. “We hear about it through social media and/or a call comes in for service through dispatch, 911, then we show up, we respond, we identify, we make sure they are actual ICE agents, and they’re there for a lawful reason, and then we stay there until the scene is cleared. We do not participate and we’re done.”
Shulda noted that the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department does not work in concert with the federal government nor does the department conduct any sort of immigration enforcement.
“Your status as a citizen doesn’t matter,” he said, stressing that residents should call 911 if they see anything suspicious in their communities. “It’s whether or not you committed a crime. Bottom line.”
All of those who spoke at the meeting did so in support of the resolution, calling it a “significant step,” toward protecting the city’s immigrant community.
“We applaud the city for taking this important first step and sending a clear message that Jurupa Valley is not going to be a partner in this administration’s actions of illegality and violence towards our community members,” Hector Pereyra, political manager for the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, said.
Though there were questions about whether the federal government would adhere to the city’s policies, the council was unequivocal in its support for the resolution and the residents of Jurupa Valley.
“We are at a time now where we can’t be silent,” Mayor Pro Tem Chris Barajas said. “We have to make a statement, even if we know there might be consequences.”
In other council action: The Jurupa Valley City Council continued a hearing on a proposed mixed-use development at the intersection of Limonite and Wineville avenues to March 5.
The council also approved a temporary 45-day moratorium on the approval of new development applications within the North Pyrite Master Plan Area. The moratorium was adopted to allow the city time to complete environmental studies identifying and addressing safety concerns.
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