Under California Law, Shasta County Law Enforcement’s Ability to Collaborate with ICE is Limited

Three days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the federal organization known as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began uploading “single day statistics” to the organization’s official social media accounts as a means of documenting numbers of arrests. On January 23, those stats included 538 arrests. By January 27, the number had more than doubled to 1,179. As recently as this week, some arrested immigrants have reportedly been sent to Guantanamo Bay ahead of their deportations.
To deliver on Trump’s promise of deporting all of the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living on American soil, ICE has assembled an outfit of collaborating federal agencies that includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US Marshals, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
While immigration enforcement is currently conducting larger sweeps than were ever undertaken during Trump’s first term, it will still take approximately 30 years to arrest (let alone deport) the 11 million people Trump promises to expel from the Unites States, at current rates. Trump’s rate of immigration-related arrests so far broadly matches the daily deportations numbers produced by the Obama administration, from 2009–2015.
Regardless of the feasibility of the White House’s stated goal, ICE’s recent actions have left many communities of undocumented immigrants paralyzed with fear. In California, which has declared itself a “sanctuary state,” ICE successfully conducted a raid in Kern County recently, and false reports of ICE presence in San Francisco and Southern California have spread like wildfire.
To add fuel to the flames of a national panic, there is some indication that federal immigration agents are willing to disregard legal procedures to meet their goals. Ras Baraka, the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, accused federal agents of unlawfully conducting a raid at a seafood depot without a warrant. The manager of the raided facility said that he never asked agents to present a valid court order before allowing them entry.
Like any form of arrest and prosecution, the deportation process must meet certain legal requirements. To the frustration of President Trump’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, ICE operations – which often rely on a lack of understanding of what immigration enforcement can and cannot legally do – are sometimes thwarted by community members with a strong knowledge of their own rights.
“They’ve very educated,” Homan told a CNN reporter in reference to those who exercise their rights to remain silent and refuse access to law enforcement that show up to raids without proper warrants.
“They call it ‘know your rights,’” Homan continued. “I call it ‘how to escape arrest.’”
Here in Shasta County, and across California, there are several legal mechanisms in place that may complicate ICE’s process of locating, arresting, and deporting undocumented people. Here’s what you need to know.
California’s Legal Obligation to Protect Undocumented Residents
As demonstrated by Trump’s first two weeks in office, the legal framework that underlies immigration enforcement is immensely complicated, especially in places like California where state law was enacted to defend undocumented residents against the authority of federal agencies. Within California’s 58 counties, debates on whether to cooperate with ICE have divided state from federal jurisdictions, and local politicians from each other even within the same counties.
The California Values Act (SB 54), which was passed in 2017, prohibits local law enforcement–and other state entities such as schools, courts, hospitals–from sharing information with ICE that could lead to the arrest and deportation of an individual or family.
Furthermore, California police officers are not allowed to inquire about immigration status, make an arrest on the basis of a deportation order, or extend an undocumented person’s time in jail for immigration agents to apprehend them, unless they’ve committed a crime that meets a certain threshold.
That threshold includes those who have been convicted of a “serious or violent” crime such as assault, rape, felony drunk driving, or certain kinds of theft. Since Proposition 36 has recategorized some theft and drug possession charges as “aggravated felonies” under the State’s legal system, immigration attorneys believe there could be an increased correlation in deportations.
In Shasta County, representatives of Anderson Police Department (APD) and Redding Police Department (RPD) have both told Shasta Scout they intend to comply with state law by only coordinating with ICE or other federal immigration agents when permitted to do so under the parameters of the California Values Act. The written policies at both RPD and APD are also consistent with the demands of SB 54.
According to Redding Police Chief Brian Barner, the extent of the department’s coordination with ICE during raids in past years has been the receipt of email notifications from the federal law enforcement agency informing local police that an ICE operation was planned in the Redding area.
A Public Information Officer with the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, Timothy Mapes, did not specifically confirm whether that department intends to comply with SB 54, but the department’s policy manual mirrors that of APD and RPD, and is also consistent with the California Values Act.
Statewide reporting indicates that at least 28 of California’s 58 Sheriffs have said they plan to comply with State law. That number does not include Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson who did not respond to CalMatters request for comment.
In contrast, the Sheriff of Riverside County has indicated that he would like to circumvent SB 54, despite steps by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to advance certain protections for undocumented residents.
Should local law enforcement choose to flout SB 54, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been unambiguous on California’s response, saying a plan is already in place to address such misconduct.
“We’re prepared to take action against any law enforcement agency that doesn’t follow (the law),” Bonta told journalists at a University of California, Berkeley, seminar in early January.
“There was a time and place to talk about SB 54 to make yourself heard, to seek amendments,” Bonta said. “That was years ago… So now’s the time to follow it.”
What Rights are You Entitled to?
Citizens and noncitizens alike are guaranteed certain rights when interfacing with law enforcement, including federal immigration agents. Whether you encounter law enforcement at work, on public transit, or on the steps of your front door, your rights in California include two primary considerations.
The first is that in most cases, law enforcement agents must have a warrant authorized by a judge in order to lawfully enter a space. The second is that you have the right to remain silent and request to speak with a lawyer, in order to avoid having your words used against you in a court of law later.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.