Trump administration asks California sheriffs for data on immigrant inmates

Stephen Hobbs, The Sacramento Bee on Jul 17, 2025

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The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced it is asking sheriffs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other California counties for information on inmates in their jails who are not U.S. citizens.

The Sacramento Sheriff’s Office, which runs the county’s two detention facilities downtown and near Elk Grove, and other counties in the capital region are not currently included among the request.

Natalie Baldassarre, a Department of Justice spokesperson, said the Riverside County and San Diego County sheriff’s offices were the other agencies that would receive requests.

The Justice Department in a news release said the requests were “designed to assist federal immigration authorities in prioritizing the removal of illegal aliens who committed crimes after illegally entering the United States.” The agency said it wants to know when the inmates are scheduled to be released and also what crimes they were arrested on suspicion of or convicted for.

California law currently restricts when deputies are allowed to contact ICE about inmates in their jails. That has frustrated many sheriffs across the state who say they want to be able to do more.

Currently, they can do so if an inmate has been convicted of a variety of crimes, including murder, rape and assault.

“I look forward to cooperating with California’s county sheriffs to accomplish our shared duty of keeping Californians and all Americans safe and secure,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.

The department said it wanted the California sheriffs to voluntarily produce the information requested but would “pursue all available means of obtaining the data” if that didn’t occur.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said it could not comment Thursday on Bondi’s letter, but officials said the agency follows state law as outlined in Senate Bill 54, which went into effect in 2018.

Under SB 54, sheriff’s offices are prohibited from sharing information related to individuals in custody for immigration enforcement purposes. The law delegates immigration enforcement solely to federal authorities and bars local law enforcement from disclosing personal immigration details or any information not otherwise publicly accessible.

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