Overview

• Sheriff Robert Luna emphasized that federal judge-issued warrants leave the department “no choice” but to hand inmates over to ICE for alleged federal crimes.
• Eight inmates were transferred in May and a dozen more in June, including nationals from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, El Salvador and Honduras aged 19 to 63.
• Under California sanctuary laws, the sheriff’s department rejected 995 ICE civil detainer requests in 2024 and continues to bar voluntary holds without warrants.
• Luna confirmed he has not officially received the Justice Department’s request for lists of noncitizen inmates and their criminal histories but will review the letter once it arrives.
• Mayor Karen Bass has denounced the warrant-based transfers as terrorizing immigrant neighborhoods and personally intervened to stop an ICE operation at MacArthur Park.