Alameda County's sheriff forbid ICE from using Santa Rita Jail

County's Trump-proofing ad hoc committee is readying its first funding request; Alameda City Council meetings have been beset by bad behavior, but last Tuesday's meeting hit a new low

Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez

☕️MORNING BUZZ

—During the first Trump administration, Alameda County officials moved quickly to bolster and offer services to protect its undocumented residents. Several jurisdictions rushed to pass sanctuary city resolutions prior to Trump’s first inauguration in January 2017.

But East Bay bulwark against Trump during the first go-around had one glaring hole—Alameda County’s Republican sheriff Greg Ahern.

In 2017, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office turned over nearly 400 individuals to ICE agents for deportation. The numbers, though, trended down over the next three years leading into the pandemic.

As the second Trump presidency gets started, Alameda County has a new sheriff in town.

Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez, elected in 2022, told the county’s new ad hoc committee on “Trump-proofing” the county on Thursday that federal authorities asked for access to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin to detain individuals swept up in ICE raids.

“My answer was definitely a clear no,” Sanchez told the ad hoc committee.

Last month, Sanchez reiterated that her office will not aid ICE agents conducting enforcement operations in Alameda County.

When asked if sheriff’s in neighboring counties have the same policies, Sanchez said, “We’re on the same page. We don’t want to conduct immigration sweeps. We don’t want to place fear on our undocumented residents.”

As you will read in today’s newsletter, the work done by county officials to limit ICE’s reach was allowed to disintegrate after Trump left office, and now must be reconstituted for his second term.

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