Community groups press Orange County supervisors to end ICE transfers as sheriff defends 2024 screenings

At a Truth Act public forum on March 25, 2025, dozens of community members and immigrant-rights organizations urged the Orange County Board of Supervisors to press the sheriff to end transfers of people in county custody to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"We must put an end to ICE transfer in our county," said Anna Chargo of Latino Health Access, citing what she described as a "1,200% increase in ICE transfers by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department" between February 2022 and February 2023 and urging supervisors to act to protect immigrant families and restore community trust.

The forum, required under California’s Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds Act (the Truth Act), drew speakers from Resilience Orange County, OC Rapid Response Network and research groups who called for earlier public notice of ICE interview requests, more Padilla attorneys at the public defender’s office and an accessible evening forum for working residents.

"The climate of fear not only threatens individuals' well-being, it erodes trust and the sense of belonging," Anna Chargo said, asking the county to make ICE-interview and transfer data public in advance of forums.

Sheriff Don Barnes responded with his department’s custody data for calendar year 2024 and defended OCSD’s practices as consistent with state law. "OCSD does not engage in immigration enforcement," Barnes said. "My deputies are focused on criminal violations of state and local law. We will not ask the immigration status of suspects, witnesses, or those who report crime." He added that California law allows notification and transfer in a custodial setting when strict SB54 thresholds are met.

Barnes said that in 2024 the department conducted 733 screenings for inmates for whom ICE had expressed interest. Of those, he said, 456 screenings were for inmates whom state law prohibited OCSD from notifying ICE about at the time of release; 277 screenings met SB54 thresholds, "of these, 228 were released to ICE custody and 49 were not picked up by ICE," he said. Later in his presentation he cited a figure of 186 people transferred in a custodial setting and presented examples of individuals who were later rearrested as part of his public-safety argument.

Community members pressed for further transparency and oversight. Devin Tan of the UC Irvine immigrant-rights clinic said the Truth Act forum requires that the county provide information about ICE interview requests, how many were requested, how many were consented to and how many were denied — data the sheriff's department has provided only sporadically in recent years, he said.

Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, who opened the forum for questions, reminded the public that the board does not have direct policy oversight of the independently elected sheriff; instead, the board controls budget items and can pursue information and community outreach. Sarmiento and other supervisors urged earlier sharing of data — suggesting 30 days before the hearing — and proposed holding community-accessible evening forums so working residents can participate.

The hearing closed after the sheriff’s presentation and board discussion. Several supervisors thanked speakers and staff and said they would continue to press for data, improved outreach and more resources for legal representation and reentry services. No formal policy change was taken at the meeting; the Truth Act forum is a required annual transparency event covering the prior year’s data.

What’s next: Supervisors asked that future community forums be scheduled and publicized to maximize participation, that ICE interview-request data be made available prior to hearings, and that the board and sheriff continue to explore ways to ensure both public safety and community trust.