Can Trump deport California immigrants from prisons? Here’s what the sheriffs say

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California sheriffs once again find themselves in difficult political calculations on immigration as president Donald Trump begins his second term.

They can impose a state asylum law that some of them personally oppose, or they can roll out the welcome mat for federal immigration authorities, which Trump has promised will carry out the largest deportation program in American history.

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

Others said that while California law does not allow direct cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, immigration officials are free to use their jail websites and fingerprint databases to identify people of interest.

“Several state leaders would prefer that we not have any communication with ICE, but that’s not what (the laws) say,” Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni said. “ICE can access jail bookings through our public website and fingerprint information placed in the national database to identify any incarcerated persons of interest.”

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

CalMatters tried to contact all 58 sheriff’s offices in California. Twenty-seven responded by Friday afternoon. Most sheriffs who responded simply said they would follow the state laws outlined in a bill passed during the first Trump administration that limited California law enforcement involvement in immigration enforcement.

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

California sheriffs could play a powerful role in determining whether someone should be arrested and deported because they run the state’s local jail system, where people suspected of committing crimes are held while they await trial. Bill named after slain Georgia nursing student expected to pass Congress could strengthen sheriffs’ powers immigration enforcement by prioritizing the deportation of undocumented immigrants arrested on suspicion of burglary and shoplifting, whether or not convicted.

The majority of sheriffs who responded to a CalMatters inquiry said they balance their duties with their need for cooperation from fearful immigrant communities. They worry that these communities will avoid all law enforcement if they fear deportation based solely on their immigration status.

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

“Hell, I have 50 MPs and I can barely keep crime down in a county of 90,000 people.” How do these guys come out here with all this “We’re going to deport 10 million people” or something. No, that’s ridiculous. It won’t do.”

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

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

One consistent theme: Every sheriff who responded to CalMatters said immigration enforcement is not their job. But some of them went further, pledging not to comply with immigration detentions, while others said they would not “impede or hinder” immigration enforcement agents from doing their jobs.

The sanctuary law has divided California sheriffs

When Governor Jerry Brown signed a law making California a state of sanctuary in 2017, barring police from asking about people’s immigration status and participating in federal immigration enforcement, the Trump administration’s response was immediate.

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

Several California sheriffs were outspoken critics of the asylum 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 Boudreau, said he disagrees with California’s sanctuary law and said any governor who supports it should be removed from office.

But Boudreau said he wanted to distinguish between the targeted enforcement of “criminal” people he supports and massive immigration raids.

“Now if they come to the area and say, ‘Hey, we’re just going to round 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,” Boudreau said. “If you can tell the difference between that, you should be able to see what I mean.”

Boudreau vowed to continue working with federal immigration authorities within the parameters of California law.

“(If) I have a federal partner that comes to my district asking for help, I will give it to them,” Boudreau said.

Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff and one of Trump’s most outspoken allies in California, took office in 2019. Now, Bianco said he is willing to work around state laws to strengthen immigration enforcement.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure I keep the residents of Riverside County safe,” Bianco told KTTV-TV in November. “If that includes working in some way with (California’s asylum law) with ICE so we can deport these people who are persecuting us and our residents, you can be 100 percent sure I will do that.”

Immigrant advocates are watching the sheriffs

Eva Bitran, coordinator of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Southern California Immigrant Rights Project, said her organization will monitor for violations of the state’s asylum law, which usually involves police calling federal immigration authorities in jails or on time of arrests.

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

The ACLU is suing 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 monitoring to ensure they do.”

In 2020 Los Angeles County has banned the warrantless transfer of inmates into immigration custody. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his department does not honor immigration detainees unless they have a federal warrant.

Between 2018 and 2023, the latest date for which data was available, had 4,192 people transfers from California prisons to immigration authorities.

But street enforcement is what worries people both in the Central Valley and in downtown Oakland, where the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is already trying to quell 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 concern in our communities.

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

CalMatters reporter Kayla Michalovich contributed to this story.