This story was originally published by Fresnoland.
Back in February, Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni caused a bit of a stir when he appeared in a Facebook live stream with Supervisor Nathan Magsig.
The two criticized California’s sanctuary state law SB 54, commonly known as the California Values Act. In the video, Zanoni said the 7-year-old law “diminishes” his office’s ability to provide public safety, and he said he had spoken with 12 other California sheriffs who shared frustrations over it.
In an interview with Fresnoland, Zanoni said he would like to initiate contact with ICE — which SB 54 currently prohibits local law enforcement from doing.
Zanoni said the California Values Act should be changed to allow Fresno County jail staff to notify ICE when they have custody of an undocumented person who meets exceptions to SB 54.
“I just want to be able to notify them (ICE),” Zanoni told Fresnoland, “just so we have that communication, we’re ensuring that people are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
To say the least, immigrant advocate groups in California don’t share the sentiment.
Carl Takei, a senior staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus, told Fresnoland that local law enforcement initiating contact with ICE is exactly what SB 54 was made to prohibit in the first place.
“Ultimately, the question for local officials is whether they will choose to prioritize the safety of the communities they serve or whether they will volunteer to act as force-multipliers for ICE’s mass deportation agenda,” Takei told Fresnoland over email. “Fortunately, existing state law puts strong pressure on local agencies to focus on their own legitimate missions instead of volunteering to serve ICE’s mission.”
Federal ICE agents are no longer staffed inside county jail, unlike under former Sheriff Margaret Mims during Donald Trump’s first presidency. However, Zanoni’s call for the California Values Act to be changed demonstrates the county jail’s ability to identify individuals in their custody who are undocumented and meet exceptions to SB 54 — without any correspondence with ICE.
Although Zanoni stressed that it’s against the law for local law enforcement to ask individuals whether they are inside the U.S. legally, he said an individual’s country of origin can come up in conversation or paperwork during the jail booking process.
Zanoni’s critique of SB 54 came three months after he told Fresnoland that the role of local law enforcement in terms of immigration enforcement would not change under a Trump presidency. Zanoni was first elected as Fresno County’s sheriff in 2022.
Additionally, Republican members of the California Legislature proposed a bill last month to prohibit cities from passing sanctuary laws stronger than SB 54. It would also require law enforcement cooperation with ICE.
Efforts to weaken SB 54 erode trust, advocates say
The California Values Act prohibits local law enforcement from playing any role in federal immigration enforcement, except when an undocumented person is convicted of serious or violent felonies or a number of misdemeanors.
When those exceptions are met, local law enforcement are only allowed to respond to ICE and its agents’ requests — they cannot initiate contact.
Zanoni said if local law enforcement could initiate contact with ICE, it would keep criminals off the street — specifically undocumented people who meet the exceptions outlined in SB 54. He added it would also lessen ICE’s presence within communities across Fresno County, and instead concentrate their resources on custody transfers from the Fresno County jail.
“I think if the jail could communicate with them (ICE), that might have them out in the community less because those criminals that they’re looking for are in jail,” Zanoni told Fresnoland.
Takei, the staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus, said concentrating ICE’s attention on Fresno County’s jail “is not likely to prevent ICE from carrying out raids at homes or workplaces — especially in light of the Trump administration’s new executive orders, which essentially prioritize the deportation of any immigrant who is undocumented or out-of-status.”
Immigration enforcement is not a function of state and local agencies, and Takei said blurring those lines would make immigrant communities less willing to seek the help they need from state and local agencies. He added that the best way to protect community trust in state and local governments is for them to maintain clear separation from ICE and federal immigration enforcement.
“Any effort to weaken California’s sanctuary laws would damage that necessary trust,” Takei said over email.
Maria Romani, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, told Fresnoland that SB 54 already allows local law enforcement to communicate with ICE under certain circumstances. Right now, she said police shouldn’t be trying to expand their communication with federal immigration authorities.
“Our position is that in this moment of immense fear and anxiety in the immigrant community, the sheriff should limit when he engages with ICE, rather than trying to expand those instances,” Romani wrote over email. “Furthermore, it is not the sheriff’s duty to determine who should remain in the country and who should not — the sheriff is not an immigration officer and should not be trying to engage in immigration enforcement duties.”
She added that the Trump administration seeks to deport as many people as possible. While running for office, Trump promised to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history. On his first day in office, Trump rescinded a federal order that protected certain places from immigration enforcement — including churches, schools and hospitals.
“ICE will take advantage of being in jails while continuing to pursue enforcement in neighborhoods,” Romani said over email. “While local law enforcement agencies can’t prevent immigration authorities from conducting enforcement, they don’t have to commit resources to enforcement happening in the jails.”
Zanoni wants the public to understand his aims
Zanoni also told Fresnoland that the Fresno County jail has been transferring undocumented people to ICE if they have been charged, arrested and were arraigned in court for a crime listed under SB 54’s exceptions.
He added that if a judge approved a probable cause declaration for an undocumented person accused of committing a crime, that would also be grounds for an ICE custody transfer, but only if ICE requests one, and only if the crime is listed among exemptions to state law.
Zanoni stressed that he only wants to go after people committing crimes, not the average undocumented person working in the United States and uninvolved in criminal activity. In November, Zanoni told Fresnoland it would be wrong to deport undocumented people en masse, and that doing so would be particularly harmful to Fresno County.
Zanoni reaffirmed that stance in an interview with Fresnoland — that he’s only after criminals, not the average undocumented person.
“I think we have to send that message to people,” Zanoni said, “because if we don’t, then it’s our fault for them (undocumented people) thinking, ‘Hey, are the sheriffs going to come get me? Am I going to get in trouble?’”
Zanoni said he’s only trying to go after people committing crime in Fresno County. He said he hopes the public can differentiate that from the aims of federal immigration authorities.