Trump administration puts sanctuary cities on notice, including 11 in Alameda County

A memo issued by Homeland Security last week named names, including 11 of Alameda County's 14 cities for "non-compliance and all potential violations of federal criminal statutes.”

Hayward Library

☕️MORNING BUZZ

—Hayward, a city of immigrants, defended its status as a sanctuary city on Friday after a memo issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sought to “expose” cities, counties, and states that refuse to coordinate with federal immigration agents.

Eleven of Alameda County’s 14 cities are included on the Homeland Security’s list of sanctuary cities, including Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Hayward, Oakland, and San Leandro.

Fremont and Union City sidestepped using the term sanctuary city, preferring instead to call themselves “compassionate cities” in hopes they would remain under the radar of the first Trump administration. They did not.

Furthermore, Newark and Pleasanton have not used either term, but its police forces have said they will not enforce federal immigration laws. Nevertheless, both are on the list.

Dublin, Livermore, and Piedmont do not appear on the Homeland Security’s list of targeted cities.

Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Justice plan to formally notify each jurisdiction of “non-compliance and all potential violations of federal criminal statutes,” according to the memo.

The fear is the Trump administration will eventually retaliate against sanctuary cities by withholding federal funding to the state, county, and cities.

Hayward officials wasted no time to deliver its response to the Trump administration, declaring their “sanctuary policies are lawful, enhance public safety, and will not change.”

The intent of sanctuary city policies in the East Bay is not to obstruct actions by federal immigration agents, but instead, to forbid city employees and law enforcement from coordinating with their efforts.

For cities like Hayward, which has a large immigrant-born population, the worry is without a sanctuary city policy, some members of the community will be less likely to interact with local law enforcement.

Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez also does not allow her deputies to coordinate with federal immigration agents for the same reason.

Despite the renewed focus on sanctuary cities, federal immigration raids in Alameda County are rare. Earlier this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hinted the reason is residents in the Bay Area are extremely aware of their rights.

In addition, because of the ubiquity of sanctuary cities in the region, ICE may fear a local official will alert suspected targets of an impending raid, similar to what then-Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf did in 2018. At the time, the interim ICE director likened Schaaf to a “gang lookout.”

—More inside:

• Fremont’s budget discussions are more interrelated with the economic upheaval at the national level than any other city in Alameda County.

• San Leandro plans to dip into its reserve fund to balance the next two fiscal year budgets; District-based elections discussion returns to the council on Monday night.

• A road project in unincorporated Ashland has neighbors accusing the county of scheming to take their property.

• A growing chorus in Castro Valley is upset about the school district’s progressive grading policy.

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