Much of the detention work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement happens through local jails and state prisons, and records show the agency has ratcheted up its attention this year on the Sonoma County jail.
While arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement out in the open draw more attention, the agency does much of its work through local jails and state prisons, and records show the agency has ratcheted up its attention on the Sonoma County jail.
ICE sends inquiries to local detention staff for information, like advance notice of release date, about people in custody they say are eligible for deportation. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office typically only responds to a fraction of those. In California, laws like the 2014 TRUST Act and the 2017 California Values Act, better known as Senate Bill 54, together bar local jails from holding someone past their release at ICE’s request, absent a state or federal warrant, and restrict information sharing unless the person has allegedly committed “serious” or “violent” felonies, though the guidelines are complex.
Those laws set a floor, not a ceiling, and local jurisdictions can set further limits.
In Sonoma County, Sheriff Eddie Engram has taken some steps to do so, and to clarify the process. That includes no longer notifying ICE for most offenses that fall on the line between a misdemeanor and a felony and, as of February, requiring a conviction rather than simply charges.
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Juan Valencia has said the changes were made to address community concerns while still preserving public safety, and to limit liability by making it easier to stay in compliance with state laws.
Advocates have been pressuring the agency to end cooperation altogether. Local law enforcement doesn’t otherwise work with ICE or assist with immigration enforcement.
Though local ICE detention numbers at jails offer a small sample size, they reveal an uptick of ICE activity and provide a window into the types of crimes targeted subjects have committed.
Between January and March this year, according to county records, the Sonoma County jail has received 128 ICE notifications asking for inmate release dates and 44 requests for other types of information. Eight people have been arrested by ICE at the jail in that period.
Last year from January through October, there were 421 notifications and six arrests. The Press Democrat has yet to obtain data for November and December.
The figures show more than 4 times as many arrests per month in 2025 as occurred in 2024, based on available records.
Napa County reports 36 ICE notifications received through March of this year, with one person being released into ICE custody. The analysis of 2024 data is not yet available, according to a county spokesperson. But in 2023, there were 84 requests from ICE and three people taken into custody.
There have been no arrests from the jails in Lake and Mendocino counties so far this year, and just one person was taken into ICE custody out of Lake County last year.
All of the eight people picked up by ICE from the Sonoma County jail through March of this year had felony convictions, according to Sheriff’s Office records.
Two of those were for carrying a loaded firearm. One was for arson of a structure or forestland. Another was for making criminal threats, and one was for domestic violence. One person was convicted of witness intimidation. Another was for driving under the influence, and finally there was a conviction for the possession of brass knuckles.
The Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office and an outside attorney review data on ICE requests and activity in the jail on a monthly basis, to check for compliance with state and local policy when jail staff provides information.
“Mistakes have been made and caught,” said Heather Wise, a Santa Rosa defense lawyer working at the intersection of criminal and immigration law who also serves as an alternate attorney for the public defender’s office and helps review ICE data. “I believe people are trying to follow the law. It’s just complicated and political.”
At a time when ICE is ramping up its scope and tactics, that vigilance can be even more critical.
In one instance in Sonoma County, ICE asked for release date information for someone who turned out to be an American citizen, according to Wise. That person was able to produce a copy of their birth certificate, she said.
While the more common ICE request form states the “(Department of Homeland Security) has determined that probable cause exists that the subject is a removable individual,” the form sent in that case was more speculative. “DHS suspects that the subject is a removable alien,” it said, and the agency “seeks an opportunity to determine whether there is probable cause.”
“It’s a big difference from a legal standpoint,” Wise said.
The Sheriff’s Office treats each of the two forms the same way, as long as they meet the criteria for response, Valencia said.
If someone is targeted in error, the expectation is that mistakes will be worked out. But there’s a risk a person could be detained in the meantime. And, that’s assuming the process operates as it should.
“We don’t have faith in the legal system right now, and that’s a scary place to be as a country,” Wise said.
You can reach “In Your Corner” Columnist Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On X (formerly Twitter) @InYourCornerTPD and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.
You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.
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