United States of America v. State of California et al

Filing 171

REPLY by United States of America to RESPONSE to 2 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F, # 7 Exhibit G, # 8 Exhibit H, # 9 Exhibit I, # 10 Exhibit J, # 11 Exhibit K, # 12 Exhibit L, # 13 Exhibit M, # 14 Exhibit N, # 15 Exhibit O, # 16 Exhibit P, # 17 Exhibit Q, # 18 Exhibit R, # 19 Exhibit S, # 20 Exhibit T, # 21 Exhibit U, # 22 Exhibit V, # 23 Exhibit W, # 24 Exhibit X, # 25 Exhibit Y)(Reuveni, Erez)

EXHIBIT W

1

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

2

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

3

SACRAMENTO DIVISION

4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
v.

CASE NO. 2:18-CV-490
DECLARATION OF ASSISTANT SPECIAL
AGENT IN CHARGE DENISE R. MAR

THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA; EDMUND G.
BROWN, JR., GOVERNOR OF
CALIFORNIA, IN HIS OFFICIAL
CAPACITY; AND XAVIER BECERRA,
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CALIFORNIA,
IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY,
Defendants.
I, Denise Mar, hereby declare and state as follows:
1. I am an Assistant Special Agent in Charge with U.S. Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI),
in the San Jose office, which is part of the HSI San Francisco Area of Responsibility. I have
held this position since November 2016. In this position, I manage approximately thirty
special agents in the South Bay, which includes the counties of Monterey, San Benito, Santa
Clara, and Santa Cruz.
2. I hold a Master of Science degree in Forensic Science from the National University in San
Diego, California, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, specializing in Law, Societies
and Justice from the University of Washington, in Seattle, Washington.
3. HSI is the investigative arm of the DHS and has authority to enforce a diverse array of
federal laws, including but not limited to, transnational gang and drug trafficking activity,
financial crimes, money laundering and bulk cash smuggling, human smuggling and
trafficking, cybercrimes including child pornography, and customs and export violations.

27
28
1
DECLARATION OF DENISE MAR

1

4. I have over thirteen (13) years of law enforcement experience with ICE HSI. From

2

September 2001 to August 2011, I was a Special Agent with the HSI office located in Seattle,

3

Washington. In August 2011, I was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent in that office

4

and I served in that position until September 2014, whereupon I was detailed to HSI

5

Headquarters as a Domestic Operations Manager until December 2015, when I became

6

Deputy Chief of Staff to the Executive Associate Director of HSI. In November 2016, I was

7

promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge and assigned to the HSI office in San Jose,

8

California.

9

5. I am aware that Defendants filed an opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary

10

Injunction of United States v. California, et. al., Case No. 2:18-cv-490. I have reviewed the

11

declarations of Christopher Caligiuri (ECF 75-1), Jim Hart (ECF 75-3), and Jeffrey F. Rosen

12

(ECF 75-4), filed in support of Defendants’ opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary

13

Injunction. The facts in this declaration are based on my personal knowledge or upon

14

information provided to me in my official capacity.

15

6. In the South Bay Area, both the promulgation and passage of SB 54 has negatively affected

16

HSI’s ability to investigate and enforce criminal violations of federal law, which in turn, has

17

affected public safety. The San Jose HSI office, in particular, has experienced numerous

18

instances wherein law enforcement has refused to cooperate with HSI in criminal

19

enforcement actions.

20

7. For example, Jim Hart’s declaration refers to an operation in February 2017. These were not

21

immigration “raids”; rather, HSI was executing several federal criminal arrests and search

22

warrants. This operation was the culmination of a multi-year criminal investigation by HSI

23

of “Mara Salvatrucha 13” (MS-13) gang members who are believed to have engaged in

24

criminal activity within the jurisdiction of Santa Cruz County. While the five-year

25

investigation had begun as a cooperative effort between HSI and the local law enforcement

26

agencies in Santa Cruz County, including the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, the day

27

before the operation, the Sheriff refused to participate in the execution of twenty-one (21)

28
2
DECLARATION OF DENISE MAR

1

criminal arrest and search warrants on MS-13 gang members and associates, because he was

2

concerned about the possibility of illegal immigrants being arrested.

3

8. HSI did not detain and hold over twenty individuals for suspected immigration violations as

4

asserted by Jim Hart. Rather, during the execution of the arrest and search warrants HSI

5

encountered eleven unidentified illegal immigrants not directly listed on the warrants. Of the

6

eleven, HSI temporarily detained six individuals who were believed to be associated with

7

criminal activity and or MS-13. Of the six individuals, five were identified and released the

8

same day. Only one individual was detained for his direct association with, and participation

9

in, MS-13 and related criminal activities. The five additional individuals encountered were

10

cited and released on site for humanitarian reasons.

11

9. As a result of the operation, fourteen people were indicted for federal crimes, including, but

12

not limited to, violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) – Racketeering Conspiracy; 18 U.S.C. §

13

1959 – Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering; 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) – Conspiracy to Commit

14

Extortion by Force; 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii) – Conspiracy to

15

Distribute Methamphetamine; 18 U.S.C. § 844(h) – Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a

16

Felony; 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) – Possession of Firearm in Furtherance of Crime of

17

Violence and Drug Trafficking Crime; 18 U.S.C. § 924(j) – Use of Firearm Resulting in

18

Death; and 18 U.S.C. § 2 – Aiding and Abetting. The case is still pending.

19

10. HSI provides relief and assistance to victims and witnesses to crimes. These come in the

20

form of counseling, visas, work authorizations, and sometimes temporary relocations. For

21

example, in 2015, HSI assisted Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office and the Santa

22

Clara County Sheriff’s Office with the continued presence of nine persons who were the

23

victims/witnesses in a labor trafficking case. Each individual eventually received a victim or

24

trafficking visa with the assistance of non-governmental organizations. While HSI had little

25

involvement in the investigation itself, HSI had heavy involvement in assisting the victims to

26

obtain relief benefits.

27

11. While it may be true that none of law enforcement partners associated with the California

28
3
DECLARATION OF DENISE MAR

1

Bureau of Investigation have asked to remove HSI/ICE from any task force, HSI was

2

removed from a criminal task force in another jurisdiction due to SB 54. In January 2018, a

3

HSI Special Agent who had been assigned to the Peninsula Regional Violence and Narcotics

4

Team (PRVNT), a California state task force in Monterey, California for over 15 months was

5

removed from that Task Force because of SB 54. The mission of the PRVNT Task Force is

6

to significantly diminish violent crime associated with gang activity, other high-risk crimes,

7

and the availability and use of illegal drugs on the Monterey Peninsula through collaborative

8

involvement of the region’s law enforcement agencies, including but not limited to, Marina

9

Police Department, Seaside Police Department, Monterey Police Department, Carmel Police

10

Department and California Highway Patrol. The Task Force is overseen by a board of police

11

chiefs from the contributing agencies. HSI has been involved with PRVNT since its

12

inception in 2013, assigning a total of four Special Agents to the Task Force.

13

12. Sometime after the passage of SB 54 in October 2017, the Monterey Police Chief Dave

14

Hober sought advice from the Monterey City Attorney regarding HSI’s involvement with the

15

Task Force, and was advised that PRVNT should sever all ties with HSI. On or about

16

January 18, 2018, Chief Hober called to inform me that a decision had been made to remove

17

the HSI Special Agent assigned to the Task Force. Because the termination of HSI’s

18

participation on the PRVNT Task Force would undermine its efforts to combat criminal

19

gangs and drug trafficking in the South Bay, I notified the HSI Deputy Special Agent in

20

Charge (DSAC) and Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of HSI San Francisco Area of

21

Responsibility.

22

13. After our conversation, Chief Hober verbally informed the Special Agent that he was being

23

removed from the Task Force. Later that evening, the Task Force Commander officially

24

informed the agent and ordered him to vacate the office provided to him and return the keys

25

within one week.

26
27

14. In February 2018, SAC Ryan Spradlin and DSAC Jerry Templet attended a meeting with the
Board of Chiefs to discuss resuming HSI’s participation on, and relationship with, the

28
4
DECLARATION OF DENISE MAR