Immigrant Rights Activists Demand Answers
At 10 a.m. on Monday, April 27, a group of immigrant rights activists, their supporters, and journalists, gathered for a press conference in front of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, to hear the testimony of the sister of a young man detained on April 23 in Santa Rosa at the Sheriff’s Office by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Jointly sponsoring the conference were North Bay Rapid Response Network and Migrant Justice in Action, both under the umbrella of the North Bay Organizing Project (NBOP); and Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition. SCSC has been advocating for over a year for the Supervisors to identify Sonoma County as a “sanctuary county.” At issue is the degree of cooperation between the Sheriff’s Department and U.S. immigration officials. Presently, County ordinances preclude the Sheriff supplying information to ICE or other immigration agencies about people in custody, except those with felony convictions.
unanimously passed what Board Chair and First District Supervisor Rebecca Hermosillo describes as “a very progressive immigration ordinance,” which also provides $1.5 million to community organizations working directly to support immigrants. The Board of Supervisors specifically did not vote to identify Sonoma County as a sanctuary county, an action proposed by Third District Supervisor Chris Coursey, whose “aye” was the sole supporting vote. At the request of the Sun, Supervisor Hermosillo made a statement which is published in its entirety alongside this report.
First to speak at the press conference was the sister of the recently detained immigrant. When the press conference was announced, she was scheduled to speak in person, but having learned that her brother had been transferred to the ICE Detention Center in California City, she decided to drive to try to visit him at that controversial facility in the western Mojave Desert. This privately-run detention center was formerly staffed and operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a men’s level II (low-medium) security prison. It was reactivated in 2025 to serve as an immigrant detention center. The sister spoke to the assembled group by phone, her call amplified for the gathered crowd. To avoid any retaliation against her or her family, she spoke under the assumed name of “Yohanna,” and identified her brother as “Carlos.”…