Riverside County deputies won't make immigration-related arrests, Sheriff Bianco says
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said deputies will not be making immigration-related arrests, making the announcement in an online video Thursday in which he also slams California's sanctuary state law.
"Over the past several weeks, there has been an alarming increase in the concern over law enforcement and immigration," Bianco says in the video. "Let me make this perfectly clear. The Riverside County Sheriff's Office and your deputies have not, are not and will not engage in any type of immigration enforcement. That is the sole responsibility of the federal government."
Protests have surfaced around Southern California, with six straight days of demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles this week, over fears of ICE raids tied to the Trump administration's promise of a crackdown. Upon entering office, President Trump issued executive orders seeking to end birthright citizenship, close off asylum admissions and task the military with border enforcement.
While refuting any possible allegations of deputies conducting immigration raids, Bianco said he will try to cooperate with Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) in making removals from jails.
"Stories of deputies conducting raids at schools, businesses and churches are simply not true," Bianco said. "I will do everything I can — within the confines of the sanctuary state laws of California — to cooperate with ICE to remove criminals from our jails."
Bianco criticized the sanctuary state law, SB 54, also known as the California Values Act, which bars local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration agencies such as ICE in carrying out arrests or detaining individuals solely on suspicion of violating immigration laws.
He alleged the law "forces" ICE agents to go into communities, calling it "extremely dangerous" and saying he will "fight to reform" the legislation.
California's sanctuary state law does not prohibit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal authorities when a case involves an individual who has been deported due to convictions for aggravated felonies — an exception outlined in California Government Code Section 7284.6(b)(1).
Last week, Bianco joined other sheriffs including Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes at the White House to attend the president's signing of the Laken Riley Act, which mandates the detention of non-U.S. citizens convicted or charged with crimes including shoplifting, larceny, burglary or theft. It marks an expansion of current parameters for mandatory detention.
The legislation, the first law signed by Trump in his new term, also authorizes states to sue the federal government "for decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement."