Assistant City Attorney Refutes Assertion that Torrance is a “Sanctuary City.”

A recent article authored by Torrance citizen Mark Stephenson raised questions of whether Torrance could be deemed a “Sanctuary City.”  In the article, Stephenson argued that a Police Department Training Bulletin dated July 22, 2014 established a de facto “Sanctuary City” policy as it instructed local police officers not to enforce ICE detainers.

In response to a inquiry from Councilman Milton Herring on the subject, Assistant City Attorney Patrick Sullivan refuted the notion that Torrance is a “Sanctuary City” by penning the following explanation:

I confirmed that there was no City Council action declaring the City of Torrance to be a sanctuary city.  Additionally, the Police Department Training Bulletin No. 14-07 dated July 22, 2014, that was referred to on the website has been revised and updated as of December 2016.

 

There is a lot of confusion about sanctuary cities since the President issued Executive Order: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States dated January 25, 2017.  Section 9(a) of the Executive Order defines Sanctuary Jurisdictions as those that willfully refuse to comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373, which basically requires communication between local law enforcement and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.  Our Police Department’s policy regarding Immigration (ICE) Detainers was revised on September 28, 2016 to comply with the Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds (TRUTH) Act, which became California law on January 1, 2017.  Our Police Department Policy on ICE Detainers was updated on December 8, 2016 (Training Bulletin No. 16-13), which requires officers to notify ICE of an inmate’s upcoming date and time of release, prior to their release.  Thus, the City of Torrance is not in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1373 (the definition of sanctuary city), the TRUTH Act, or the Executive Order.