Immigrant Rights Activists Demand Answers
By Anna Pier
At 10 a.m. on Monday, April 27, a group of immigrant rights activists, their supporters, and journalists, gathered for a press conference in front of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, to hear the testimony of the sister of a young man detained on April 23 in Santa Rosa at the Sheriff’s Office by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Jointly sponsoring the conference were North Bay Rapid Response Network and Migrant Justice in Action, both under the umbrella of the North Bay Organizing Project (NBOP); and Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition. SCSC has been advocating for over a year for the Supervisors to identify Sonoma County as a “sanctuary county.” At issue is the degree of cooperation between the Sheriff’s Department and U.S. immigration officials. Presently, County ordinances preclude the Sheriff supplying information to ICE or other immigration agencies about people in custody, except those with felony convictions.
On April 28, Sonoma County Supervisors unanimously passed what Board Chair and First District Supervisor Rebecca Hermosillo describes as “a very progressive immigration ordinance,” which also provides $1.5 million to community organizations working directly to support immigrants. The Board of Supervisors specifically did not vote to identify Sonoma County as a sanctuary county, an action proposed by Third District Supervisor Chris Coursey, whose “aye” was the sole supporting vote. At the request of the Sun, Supervisor Hermosillo made a statement which is published in its entirety alongside this report.
First to speak at the press conference was the sister of the recently detained immigrant. When the press conference was announced, she was scheduled to speak in person, but having learned that her brother had been transferred to the ICE Detention Center in California City, she decided to drive to try to visit him at that controversial facility in the western Mojave Desert. This privately-run detention center was formerly staffed and operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a men’s level II (low-medium) security prison. It was reactivated in 2025 to serve as an immigrant detention center. The sister spoke to the assembled group by phone, her call amplified for the gathered crowd. To avoid any retaliation against her or her family, she spoke under the assumed name of “Yohanna,” and identified her brother as “Carlos.”
Yohanna began her statement explaining that her brother, having served his sentence, had appeared in the Sonoma County Court at 8:30 a.m. on April 23. At that time the judge “released him to the community on parole.” Yohanna went from the court immediately to the lobby of the Sheriff’s Department, arriving there by 8:40 a.m.. By her testimony, she waited there, never left the lobby even to use the bathroom, until 2:30 that afternoon. She stated that she checked in with the people at the reception in the Sheriff’s office three times, inquiring about her brother’s whereabouts. The answer to the first two inquiries was, “he’s still in the system,” but at 2:30 p.m. they told her he was not in the system. She kept asking how he was not in the system if he had never come out into the lobby. She said that, as she continued to question them, the people in the Sheriff’s office threatened to arrest her.
At 3 p.m., her brother, “Carlos,” called her to say that ICE agents had detained him and he was already in San Francisco. She told the press conference that Carlos stated to her that the ICE agents had arrested him inside the building and taken him out the back door to their vehicle.
Yohanna stated to the gathered group that she has asked the Sheriff about turning her brother over to ICE inside the Sheriff’s building. She stated that the Sheriff denies turning her brother over to ICE. She said she was “speaking out” because it was “an injustice what the Sheriff’s office did,” that her brother had been detained right after the judge released him on parole. She concluded her statement at the press conference acknowledging, “my brother made mistakes, but he had served his sentence and was paroled.” She said that handing him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents constitutes a “double punishment.”
Speaking for North Bay Rapid Response Network (NBRRN) was a man introduced as the Coordinator for the NBRRN Hot Line, who identified himself only by his first name, Luis. He pointed out that 50 percent of all ICE detentions reported to the Hot Line occur outside the Sonoma County jail, adding that in 2025, “only two out of 70 people detained had warrants.” He observed, “They’ve served their sentence and should not be double punished,” continuing, “I urge local law officers to support and protect all members of the community.”
In the Sonoma Valley, there are approximately 120 volunteers trained by NBRRN to document any reported ICE action.
Proponents of Sanctuary status, as represented by Renee Saucedo of SCSC at the press conference, assert “there is no evidence that undocumented migrants are more prone to re-offences than anyone else.” She understands, she said, that sanctuary status would bring total non-cooperation between immigration agents and the Sheriff’s office.
Saucedo asserted that the Supervisors, except for Chris Coursey who supports sanctuary status, “are pitting crime survivors and immigrants rights supporters against each other, spreading the image of ‘dangerous immigrants.’” Saucedo stated that that sanctuary cities are “safer,” because they encourage people, regardless of their immigration status, to report crimes; and sanctuary cities “build trust” between local immigrant communities and law enforcement.
Complaints regarding actions by the Sheriff’s department, or any other law enforcement agency in the County, can be submitted for review by IOLERO, the Independent Office for Law Enforcement Review and Outreach ([email protected]).
On May 12, the County will hold its annual TRUTH Act Forum, during which Sheriff Eddie Engram must publicly disclose all interactions with federal immigration authorities over the past year, and answer questions from both the Board of Supervisors and the public. In her statement, Supervisor Hermosillo encourages everyone concerned about interactions between the Sheriff’s Department and immigration agents to attend the Truth Forum, in Board Chambers (575 Administration Drive, Santa Rosa) on May 12 at 5:30 PM, or accessible online at https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.
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