The ACLU of Northern California used documents obtained through the California Public Records Act (CPRA) to show how sheriffs in the Central Valley are violating state law in collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Sheriffs are denying due process to immigrants while ICE routinely deports them. An ACLUNC newsletter article by Sarah Hopkins gives details on the collaboration: “The investigation uncovered chilling collusion tactics, including: sheriffs’ officials holding people in jail for extra time in order to allow ICE agents to detail them; illegal transfers of people directly to ICE custody when there is no alleged conviction to permit the transfer under the Values Act; and a practice of ‘releasing’ people into non-public ares of jails, where ICE agents come to arrest them, thereby skirting the requirement to report ICE transfers to the California Attorney General.” (American Civil Liberties Union Northern California, Summer 2022)
An e-mail sent to ICE obtained through the CPRA reveals that a then assistant sheriff notified ICE that a person was to be released from custody into a “release vestibule” where ICE could make an arrest. (ABC 30 Action News, February 9, 2022, by Jessica Harrington)