Trump Wants to Deport Immigrants Accused of Crimes. California Sheriffs Could Play a Key Role

California sheriffs once again find themselves navigating a difficult political calculus on immigration as President Donald Trump begins his second term.

They can enforce a state sanctuary law that some of them personally oppose, or they can roll out the welcome mat to federal immigration enforcement authorities whom Trump has promised will carry out the largest deportation program in American history.

Some California sheriffs have pledged not to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement authorities, based on their own policies or laws passed by their counties, and will forbid immigration agents from using county personnel, property or databases without a federal warrant.

Others said that while California law prevents direct cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, immigration authorities are free to use their jail websites and fingerprints databases to identify people of interest.

“Several state leaders would prefer we do not have any communication with ICE, however, that is not what (the laws) say,” said Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni. “ICE may access jail bookings through our public website and fingerprint information put into the national database to identify any incarcerated persons of interest to them.”

And one sheriff, Chad Bianco of Riverside County, said he would work around California law, if he could, to ensure more people are deported.

CalMatters attempted to contact all 58 sheriff’s offices in California. Twenty-seven responded by Friday afternoon. Most sheriffs who responded simply said they will follow state law, spelled out in a bill passed during the first Trump administration that limited California law enforcement participation in immigration enforcement.

Before Trump’s inauguration today, immigration raids in the Central Valley earlier this month already had undocumented migrants and their families concerned about massive enforcement sweeps on immigrant-dependent industries like agriculture. Trump and cabinet officials from his first term have pledged “targeted arrests” of undocumented people, and view local law enforcement as “force multipliers” of that effort.

California sheriffs could play an influential role in determining whether someone gets arrested and deported because they manage the state’s local jail system, where people suspected of committing crimes are held while awaiting trial. A bill named after a slain Georgia nursing student that is expected to pass in Congress could enhance sheriffs’ sway over immigration enforcement by prioritizing deportations of undocumented immigrants arrested on suspicion of burglary and shoplifting, regardless of whether they’re convicted.

The majority of sheriffs who responded to a CalMatters inquiry said they were balancing their duties with their need for cooperation from frightened immigrant communities. They worry those communities will shun all law enforcement if they fear deportation based on their immigration status alone.

“You don’t know how many calls I’ve gotten from Hispanics in my area that I’ve known, I’ve grown up with, they’re all worried about family members,” said Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall. “I’ve got in-laws through my children calling me because they’re concerned, but let’s look at the ability to actually enforce this crap.

“Hell, I’ve got 50 deputies and I can barely keep a lid on crime in a county of 90,000. How are these guys coming out here with all of this ‘We’re gonna deport 10 million people’ or something. No, that’s ridiculous. It’s not gonna happen.”

Kendall said he undoubtedly has people in his community who have committed serious crimes and are also undocumented, and wants those people arrested.

“If they want to go out and deport all the criminals, knock yourselves out, but let’s pick and choose what’s important and what is not,”he said.

One consistent theme: Every sheriff who responded to CalMatters said immigration enforcement isn’t their job. But some of them went further, pledging not to honor immigration holds, while others said they will neither “prevent nor hinder” immigration enforcement agents from doing their jobs.

Sanctuary law divided California sheriffs

When Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation making California a sanctuary state in 2017, barring police from inquiring about people’s immigration status and participating in federal immigration enforcement, the reaction from the Trump administration was immediate.

The administration cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in law enforcement grants to sanctuary cities that limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The Biden administration restored the grants in 2021.

Several California sheriffs were outspoken critics of the sanctuary law during Trump’s previous presidency. A group of San Joaquin Valley sheriffs traveled with Trump to the border in 2019, where they endorsed his immigration policies.

One of them, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, said he doesn’t agree with California’s sanctuary law, and said any governor who supports it should be removed from office.

But Boudreaux said he wants to distinguish between targeted enforcement of “felonious” people, which he supports, and massive immigration raids.

“Now, if they come into the area saying, ‘Hey, we’re just going to scoop up as many people as we can that are here illegally,’ we’re not going to do that, because (we) have a community to serve,” Boudreaux said. “If you can separate the difference between that, you should be able to see what I mean.”

Boudreaux pledged to keep working with federal immigration authorities within the parameters of California law.

“(If) I have a federal counterpart that comes into my county asking for assistance, I’m going to give it to them,” Boudreaux said.

Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff and one of Trump’s most outspoken allies in California, took office in 2019. Now, Bianco said he’s ready to work around state law to step up immigration enforcement.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure I keep the residents of Riverside County safe,” Bianco said to KTTV-TV in November. “If that involves working somehow around (California’s sanctuary law) with ICE so we can deport these people victimizing us and our residents, you can be 100% sure I’m going to do that.”

Immigrant advocates watching sheriffs

Eva Bitran, Immigrants’ Rights project coordinator at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said her organization would be watching for violations of the state sanctuary law, which would typically involve police calling federal immigration authorities at jails or during arrests.

That’s what happened to Daniel Valenzuela in 2019, when Corona police interrogated him about his immigration status during a traffic stop, then transferred him to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. Valenzuela was then deported.

The ACLU sued the city of Corona, which paid Valenzuela a $35,000 settlement.

“Our expectation is that the sheriffs will follow the law,” Bitran said. “We will be watching to ensure they do so.”

In 2020, Los Angeles County banned the warrantless transfer of inmates to immigration enforcement custody. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his department does not honor immigration detainers unless presented with a federal warrant.

Between 2018 and 2023, the last date for which data was available, there were 4,192 transfers of people from California jails to immigration authorities.

But it’s street enforcement that has people worried in both the Central Valley and downtown Oakland, where the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is already trying to tamp down rumors of immigration raids.

“We want to assure you that this information is false,” said Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Roberto Morales. “This information has caused panic and anxiety in our communities.

“While we respect criminal warrants issued by a judge, Sheriff’s Office personnel do not comply with administrative immigration warrants. Importantly, we believe that local law enforcement involvement in ICE deportation operations undermines our community policing strategies and depletes local resources.”

CalMatters reporter Cayla Mihalovich contributed to this story.