Santa Cruz County in California is a “sanctuary” jurisdiction. And “Policy 428” in the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Policy Manual clearly states, “No individual who is otherwise ready to be released [from Sheriff’s Office custody]should be detained solely for the purpose of making notification to immigration authorities.” Strangely, though, it also says, “Immigration officials routinely interview suspected undocumented aliens who are booked into the county jail.”
Santa Cruz County is committed to protecting immigration violators but it invites immigration officials into its jail to screen offenders and find immigration violators. If that sounds rather hypocritical – that’s because it is. Sanctuary policies are routinely supported by wealthy do-gooders who live far away from the elevated crime, depressed wages, cultural decline that accompany uncontrolled mass migration. But, the fact is, that these devotées of diversity get a bit testy when reality intrudes upon their utopian fantasy world. And when one of their own is victimized by an immigrant, their commitment to a multicultural world of open borders evaporates completely.
Proof of this assertion is easy to find: Alix Tichelman was a high-end call girl servicing the rich and famous around Santa Cruz Harbor. She was also a Canadian citizen, and the daughter of a wealthy tech executive, who had obtained lawful permanent residence in the United States. On November 23, 2013, Tichelman was partying with millionaire Google executive Timothy Hayes, on his private yacht. During the course of their activities, she injected him with heroin. When Hayes began to show signs of an overdose, rather than calling for assistance, Tichelman focused on covering her tracks and leaving the crime scene undetected. She was subsequently convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to jail. The media dubbed Tichelman the ”Harbor Hooker.”
Both upon her arrest, and her release from jail, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed detainers requesting that Tichelman be held in custody for arrest on deportation charges. Although the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office made an elaborate public show about refusing to comply with the detainer, it was all political theater. Tichelman was taken into ICE custody without incident and ordered deported from the United States. The Sheriff’s Office didn’t let her go before ICE could arrive and her removal wasn’t accompanied by the histrionic agitprop that has become a common feature of high-profile immigration cases.
And there was nary a whisper from the Hollywood and Silicon Valley elite when Alix Tichelman was being deported. Billionaire Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg – vocal critic of Trump administration immigration enforcement efforts – didn’t say a word. Anti-“travel ban,” pro-sanctuary Canadian immigrant, Seth Rogan stayed off his Twitter account. Why? The answer is simple. The Harbor Hooker didn’t commit a crime that impacted regular folks, like Kate Steinle, or the children of all the “angel moms.” She crossed the one border that California’s pro-alien elite care about – the one that protects them from the real world.