The San Mateo County Sheriff Ends ICE Transfers

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s office has announced this week that, effective immediately, they will no longer respond to any requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for notification of an inmate’s release or transfer any inmate to its custody.

“It has become apparent to me that complying with those requests regarding the pending release of undocumented individuals who have committed serious crimes is undermining the trust we need to protect the community,” said Sheriff Carlos Bolanos in a statement. Adding, “it simply is not worth losing the trust of many members of the public by continuing to process these requests from ICE.”

San Mateo County coordinated 15 transfers to ICE from the County jail last year, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

“This is a momentous and compassionate decision by our sheriff to end cooperation with ICE,” said County Board President David Canepa. “This is a policy change that will keep families whole and I applaud Sheriff Bolanos for taking this action.”

The move came after hearing from county residents at a forum required to be held annually by jurisdictions complying with ICE requests.

Read the full statement from the Sheriff’s Office here and more about the story at CBS San Francisco.