A Northern California sheriff’s office said Tuesday it allowed federal immigration officers to enter its jail and interview four inmates in violation of its sanctuary policy.

Members of the staff “mistakenly permitted ICE entrance to our jail” on March 7 and 8, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said.

The county “has a policy of not cooperating with ICE operations,” Smith said in a statement, which was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Smith said none of the four inmates were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. After learning of the incident, the sheriff’s office reevaluated and strengthened measures for admitting law enforcement agencies to its facilities.

Subsequent attempts by ICE officers to re-enter the facilities on March 14 and March 26 were denied, said Reginald Cooks, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

The interviews occurred at the same time ICE officers visited San Francisco County Jail on March 8 and interviewed an inmate.

San Francisco Sheriff Vicki Hennessy apologized for that breach, saying that it appeared ICE was “testing our defenses and found some weak points,” the Chronicle reported.

Hennessy then issued a reminder to employees of sanctuary policies.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has sued California over the state’s so-called sanctuary laws, escalating a feud between the state and the Trump administration. 

Here is the full statement from the sheriff’s office: 

   They entered our jail on the afternoon of March 7 and the morning of March 8, 2018.  There were a total of 4 inmates interviewed. The following week ICE attempted to re-enter the facilities on Wednesday March 14, 2018 and were denied access.  On Monday the 26th of March, 2018 they attempted to reenter our jail, this time ICE requested entry at two separate access points of the same facility.  They were denied entry.
 
Here is the statement regarding from Sheriff Laurie Smith.
 
“The County of Santa Clara has a policy of not cooperating with ICE operations. The Sheriff’s Office does not accept ICE holds and has a longstanding policy of not allowing ICE agents access to our custody facilities.  Unfortunately, a few weeks ago staff mistakenly permitted ICE entrance into our jail. Inmates were interviewed, but none were detained by ICE.
 
Upon learning of this incident, we reevaluated and strengthened the clearance procedures in which all law enforcement agencies are permitted to enter our facilities. Subsequently, ICE attempted to reenter our jail and this time they were denied access. 
 
We value the trust and rapport we’ve earned with our local immigrant community and we will not break that trust.”
 
Sheriff Laurie Smith  

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com

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