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yesterday

Justice Department Demands Non-Citizen Inmate Records from California Sheriffs

California officials say the request violates SB 54, prompting them to prepare legal challenges.

ICE agent
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A woman raises her hands as Customs and Border Protection agents extend their skirmish line into a crop field during a raid at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, Calif., July 10, 2025.

Overview

  • On July 17 the DOJ issued letters to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Riverside and San Diego sheriff’s offices seeking names of all non-citizen inmates, their crimes and scheduled release dates, warning it will use subpoenas or other compulsory measures if they do not comply.
  • Under the California Values Act (SB 54), local agencies may only honor federal civil immigration warrants, and LA County Sheriff Robert Luna emphasized his department will transfer inmates to ICE only upon presentation of judicial warrants.
  • San Francisco Sheriff’s Department and Attorney General Rob Bonta reported they had not received the DOJ request and argued that wholesale data sharing would violate state sanctuary law.
  • Since early June ICE has stepped up operations in Los Angeles, detaining more than 2,700 people, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass intervened at MacArthur Park on July 7 to halt a planned ICE raid.
  • County officials in California’s largest jurisdictions are consulting legal counsel to review the DOJ directive and stand ready to challenge any compulsory enforcement in court.