22 Jan Sheriff Tells Supes He Doesn’t Expect Trump’s Ascension to Affect Relations With ICE

Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston. (Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office via Bay City News)

By Tony Hicks
Bay City News

Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston said Tuesday he doesn’t expect changes to how his office deals with federal immigration officials after Donald Trump took office as president Monday.

Livingston gave his quarterly sheriff’s oversight report to the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning.

Trump has promised sweeping changes to immigration policies, including mass deportations, especially of people with criminal records.

Livingston said his office follows California’s Senate Bill 54, enacted in 2018 and otherwise known as the California Values Act, which mandates that no state or local resources can be used to assist federal immigration enforcement and that California schools, hospitals and courthouses are safe spaces.

“I don’t anticipate changes from our role or from state law, which is what we follow,” Livingston said. “I do think there will be an accelerated enforcement from the federal government. But since we don’t house detainees, ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detainees, it really should not affect us in any way.”

For local law enforcement, SB 54 means they can’t ask about immigration status, can’t arrest anyone only for a deportation order or most immigration violations, and can’t share immigrants’ personnel information with federal immigration agents.

California law enforcement also can’t hold people longer for federal officers to pick them up, can’t let them interview detainees without their written consent, and can’t tell immigration officers when suspects will be released.

However, local law enforcement can notify ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection if the detainee has felony convictions warranting state prison sentences within the past 15 years. They can also notify immigration officers of a release date if it has already been made public.

Livingston showed the board statistics saying ICE notifications went down from 144 in 2023 to 131 in 2024, while requests for notifications went up from 479 in 2023 to 577 in 2024.

He said ICE officials don’t come inside his department and aren’t allowed to interview detainees on site.

“The reason is that we follow the law here in California … which limits our interaction with any federal official about immigration,” Livingston said. “These are only serious and violent offenders.”

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