U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a statement on social media this week identifying a man recently arrested in Santa Monica and emphasizing the lack of cooperation between local agencies and the federal government.
The agency said local officials refused to honor a detainer placed against Juan Manuel Saravia, a Salvadoran national ICE described as a twice-convicted burglar.
“Instead of holding the Salvadoran criminal illegal alien for ICE, Santa Monica police released him back into the community. So, ICE LA officers targeted him for arrest to protect Americans and to follow through on his final order of removal,” said a post on the agency’s Facebook account.
According to ICE, officers located Saravia in a public area near police headquarters on July 23. The agency said officers were wearing clearly marked body armor when they approached him. Saravia immediately fled, but the pursuit was brief, ICE said. Although he resisted, officers apprehended him without incident, according to the agency.
Saravia will remain in ICE custody pending a removal flight to El Salvador, the agency said.
At the time of the arrest, SMPD said officers had arrested an adult male that morning on suspicion of vehicle burglary and possession of burglary tools, cited him and released him from SMPD custody.
The arrest reflects an ongoing tension between federal immigration authorities and the Santa Monica Police Department over the city's approach to immigration enforcement.
SMPD has reiterated that it does not honor civil immigration detainers or participate in federal immigration enforcement operations. The department has said its policy is consistent with California's Senate Bill 54, known as the California Values Act, and with Title 8 of the U.S. Code.
"Our responsibility is to protect public safety and enforce criminal laws within the City of Santa Monica," Police Chief Darrick Jacob said in a past statement about working with federal authorities. "Immigration enforcement is the responsibility of designated federal agencies and is not a function of this department."
Jacob has said SMPD does not conduct immigration sweeps, raids or detentions based solely on a person's immigration status, and does not independently enforce federal immigration law.
"Public safety depends on trust between the community and law enforcement," Jacob has said. "Fear of immigration consequences should never prevent someone from calling for help or cooperating with the Santa Monica Police Department."
At the same time, Jacob has said the department continues to enforce criminal laws regardless of a person's immigration status. "Accountability for criminal behavior is essential to public safety, and no one should interpret our policies as tolerance for crime," he has said.
SMPD said the incident this month did not change its policy. The department said immigration status does not affect a person's ability to report a crime, request assistance or cooperate with police as a victim or witness.