California Attorney General Xavier Becerra released guidelines on Wednesday informing state law enforcement officials that they can communicate with federal officials about a person's immigration status under California's controversial sanctuary state law.
The memo comes the same week that officials in Orange County are publicly pushing back against the state law. On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to join the Trump administration in a lawsuit against the state of California challenging the legality of the sanctuary law.
And on Monday, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens announced her agency would begin publishing online the release dates of all inmates -- not just undocumented people -- in what she framed as a move that will let her office get around the sanctuary law, which she opposes.
That law, known as Senate Bill 54, took effect in January. It bars California law enforcement agencies from using their own resources to assist with immigration investigations, and prohibits sheriff's departments -- which run county jails in California -- from holding someone in jail past their release date at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
It also prohibits law enforcement agencies from providing personal information about an inmate to ICE unless that information is available to the public.