League of Women Voters urges SLO County to consider ‘ICE-free zones’ | Opinion

League of Women Voters on ICE

We commend the Board of Supervisors for hosting a mandated TRUTH Act public forum as part of the essential need to hold government to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. We look forward to a frank and comprehensive presentation from Sheriff Ian Parkinson.

The California Legislature enacted the ‘Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds Act’— the TRUTH Act – to ensure trust between the community and local law enforcement during Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities in California. The recent and escalating militarization of ICE, its use of force and intimidation and its failure to protect civil liberties have eroded that trust.

The resulting climate of fear and distrust make it hard, if not impossible, for our police to do their job. Public trust that our government and its agencies will do the right thing is central to democracy. Without it, we are adrift as a nation. The US League of Women Voters has called for a Congressional investigation into recent federal immigration enforcement actions. The League of Women Voters of California is considering policies to hold ICE accountable for its actions in California.

One proposal is to create “ICE-free zones” on county-owned property — a meaningful step toward protecting public spaces and upholding community safety. We urge the board to consider this.

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights identifies freedom from fear as a basic human right for everyone, immigrant or not. Our local institutions must ensure that everyone is safe from unwarranted and illegal immigration enforcement.

Janice Langley

Joanne Schultz

Wendy Brown

Jacquie Canfield

League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County

Never forget

I celebrated Martin Luther King’s birthday this month by reading his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” written in 1963.

Near the beginning he writes, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Surely, the inexcusable treatment if Black Americans in the southern states was on his mind. I wonder what he would think of the treatment of brown-skinned Americans in the U.S. in 2026.

King goes on to say, “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal’ and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was ‘illegal.’ It was ‘illegal’ to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers.”

What about brown-skinned Americans that must endure mental and physical brutality at the hands of Trump’s special police, citizen or not? Immigrants do the jobs white Americans don’t want for a chance at a better life. Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney openly defied Trump’s Greenland plans and his international brutality that is akin to what is happening in the U.S. at Davos, while inviting NATO members to join Canada.

Keep demonstrating, folks. Trump’s plans are falling apart everywhere. Must we wait for a looming terrible ending?

Mike Broadhurst

Cambria

Celebrating MLK

As we celebrate the month of Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, it’s worth remembering that some 60 years ago, as the civil rights movement gathered momentum and prominence, proponents of civil rights often faced violence resistance.

Often, this violence was condoned by, or even perpetrated by, local law enforcement. The federal government stepped up with increasing frequency to protect the constitutional rights and even the very persons of the activists seeking positive change.

Now, the situation is reversed. The agents of the federal government are running roughshod over civil liberties and due process, with heavily armed thugs harassing, threatening and detaining anyone they choose. No pretext of proper law enforcement procedures are followed in this supposed quest to capture “criminals.”

Local law enforcement does what it can to protect the citizenry from this abusive federal authority. Whatever issues the presence of foreign nationals in this country without proper documentation might pose, it fades away in the face of the current affronts to law and decency. The United States of America has always been a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws, We deserve a national government which respects both.

Michael Seden-Hansen

Paso Robles

Thanks, Sheriff

We are all so weary of people criticizing Sheriff Ian Parkinson for his success in keeping SLO County safe. I challenge any of the naysayers to even attempt to do his job. It’s easy to denigrate anyone from the sidelines. Kudos to Ian Parkinson for keeping us safe from harm in this poorly run country. Becky Jorgeson

Founder, Hope’s Village

‘Quick draw’ Dow

SLO County District Attorney Dan Dow can be counted on to incite, not calm; preach, not teach; instigate, not investigate. Within a day of Renee Wood’s killing by a member of ICE, Dow solved the killing with a ‘“truth tool” — social media posts on X. Before the many more videos and evaluations would publish, Dow’s views and conclusions were infecting the internet.

It is not unusual for a law enforcement agency to have at least one officer referred to as a “cowboy,” some are so reckless decent officers avoid partnering with the cowboy, knowing the chances of something going tragically wrong on their shift are compounded if they ride with a cowboy.

Heck, some law enforcement departments have cowboys who promote to training officers. The Minneapolis PD’s Officer Derek Chauvin was one and is in prison for the murder of George Floyd, two of his trainees convicted for involvement in the crime.

Have another look at those videos, Detective Dan — all of them — and spare SLO’s citizens your quick-draw commentaries and not so subtle threats, or you might begin to read like, sound like and even be a cowboy.

Howard Gillingham

Atascadero

Editor’s note: The author has practiced state and federal criminal law and is a retired adjunct professor of criminal law.

Coastal Commission’s spotty record

While the California Coastal Commission has much to be proud of as it celebrates its 50-year anniversary, the Coastal Commission has also let us down miserably over the past 40+ years.

The commission allowed off-road vehicles to continue to destroy precious habitat and risk life and limb of those who unsafely operate these deadly machines.

The commission is allowing the Diablo Canyon Power Plant to continue to operate while it continues to produce and store nuclear waste while doing so on several earthquake fault lines. This puts the whole Central Coast at risk every day and will do so for thousands of years into the future. It is not clean energy and it costs taxpayers even more than they realize due to the unfair subsidies paid to PG&E.

So no “congratulations” from me until the Coastal Commission puts the long-term safety of people and our environment first. I’d rather we “suffer” the loss of jobs and revenue in the short term rather than leave a disgusting legacy for generations to come.

Marcia Alter

Arroyo Grande