Activists tell Supervisors to “Grow A Spine” to Melt ICE in Marin

SAN RAFAEL, California (02-23) – For the second time this month human rights activists have spoken during the public forum portion at a Marin County Board of Supervisors meeting. On this occasion, it was at the opening session of the supervisors’ three-day workshop in deciding the 2026-2028 proposed budget. Organizers from the Marin Democratic Socialists of America (Marin DSA) along with several dozen others lined up to address the Board directly in demanding that they protect all Marin residents by permanently ending the Marin County Sheriff’s voluntary participation in the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP).

Under the SCAAP program, the Sheriff’s Office receives a $1,000 payment for each captured undocumented immigrant — defined as a noncitizen convicted of a felony or for having been convicted of two or more misdemeanors — who upon being released from jail, is taken into custody by ICE. Participation in the grant program flies in the face of the motto emblazoned on the Sheriff’s vehicles that states “In Partnership with Our Communities.”

According to activists, the Sheriff’s Office has handed over more than 1,000 undocumented county residents in the past three years, raking in $1.2 million in revenue. The scenario of ICE invading communities and arresting undocumented persons along with US citizens has been playing out in cities and towns both big and small across the country with Marin being no exception.

As the news media has been transfixed by focusing on the disastrously deadly situation in Minneapolis and other large cities, many county residents are shocked to learn that undocumented people are being arrested by ICE in bucolic Marin and that the Sheriff’s Office is being paid a bounty for each person when released from county jail that is taken by ICE into custody.

Activists had remained hopeful that would soon not be the case when Marin County Executive, Derek Johnson, at the opening of the regularly scheduled February 10 Board of Supervisors meeting, announced that he “…would not include State Criminal Alien Assistance Program funding” in the upcoming budget.

However, in a news release from Johnson’s office the following day, Johnson further clarified his position by saying he had decided to “…recommend using one-time funds to support jail operations while temporarily pausing participation in the [SCAAP] program.” His recommendation, he said, “…comes after extensive conversations with community members, stakeholders, and peer counties that share Marin County’s commitment to equity.” Going further, he stated: “We have heard the speakers who have come forward and take those concerns seriously.”

His statement for “pausing participation in the program” fell short of an outright commitment in recommending an end to the lucrative relationship between the Sheriff and ICE and is more a placation than a resolution reflective of county residents’ disdain for the program, thus nullifying his claim that he had heard the speakers “after extensive conversations.”

Once again, activists spoke out in calling upon the Board to immediately end all cooperation with DHS and ICE. One speaker opined that “It is so clear cut to slam the door on ICE, get rid of SCAAP, and move on about more important things like protecting the immigrants in our community.”

A spokesperson from the five thousand strong Indivisibles Marin characterized the laudable words of the Board of Supervisors by reminding them of their recent statement which said in part, “We stand united in our commitment to the dignity, safety and belonging of every community member regardless of immigration status.” Going further, the spokesperson stated that “I am very concerned that when the Sheriff releases the names to ICE they are acting as judge, jury and executioner,” citing deaths of people in ICE custody for that concern by calling ICE incarceration “a death warrant.”

One speaker, who identified himself as a retired US Navy Captain and former lawyer, spoke in favor of the SCAAP program in Marin saying that the program was only about “people in our jail who have committed prior serious crimes” and that the Sheriff was being compensated by the federal government for incarcerating them. He told the Board, “I strongly urge you to reconsider any position on walking away from federal money.” He went on to speak of the Board’s duty to public safety and asked them to disregard the activist from “these NGOs” and concluded by saying “Don’t walk away from these federal monies.”

That was the only opposition that was heard and was soon followed by Jeanette, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, who, having grown up in Minneapolis-St Paul, said the subject of ICE was “very close to my heart.” She went further in saying that she “could only imagine that her parents were rolling over in their grave thinking that anything like this with SCAAP and ICE could happen in this country.” She implored the board not to accept a penny from people being captured and closed by saying that “Everybody thinks it can’t happen here. Well it is.”

A Marine Corps Vietnam veteran forcefully stated that “denying their [SCAAP] money is not enough. You need to draw a resolution to condemn ICE for what it is: a lawless terrorist organization. They have killed Americans on the street; they are murdering people in their prisons. They arrested a five-year-old boy with a bunny hat on. You need to grow a backbone. By allowing these people to operate in our county you are being complicit in their lawless behavior.”

The activists from the Marin DSA said they would not rest until they see budgetary changes removing SCAAP funding from the county budget along with the Board of Supervisors and Sheriff’s declaration that they would never again apply for grants under the DHS program.

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

© 2026 nuzeink all rights reserved worldwide