Sonoma County is drawing a line. In a unanimous April 7 vote, the Board of Supervisors backed a new ordinance that bars county employees from helping federal immigration enforcement, blocks ICE from using county property, and pairs the move with a $1.5 million fund for legal defense and services — with Chair Rebecca Hermosillo flatly declaring “ICE raids are not welcome in Sonoma County.”
Key takeaways
- The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on April 7 to introduce the ordinance; final adoption comes on second reading April 28.
- Three core prohibitions: county employees can’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, ICE can’t use county property for enforcement, and the county won’t collect or share immigration status unless legally required.
- The ordinance does not bind agencies under other elected officials — most notably the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney, which operate independently.
- A $1.5 million fund will pay for legal and removal defense, mental health support, language access, service-provider coordination, trusted-messenger outreach and post-detention family support.
- Supervisors Rebecca Hermosillo (Chair) and Lynda Hopkins led the measure after a year of listening sessions with immigrant communities.
What the ordinance actually does
At its core, this is a sanctuary ordinance — and Sonoma County joins a growing list of California jurisdictions that have written sanctuary-style protections into local law rather than leaving them to administrative policy. County employees are now prohibited from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement operations, and immigration authorities can’t use county-owned property (buildings, parking lots, agency offices) as a base for enforcement actions. The county also affirms it won’t collect or share anyone’s immigration status unless state or federal law specifically requires it.
Hermosillo framed the move as both a values statement and a practical response: “With this ordinance, the Board is reaffirming our commitment to stand with Sonoma County’s immigrant communities, uphold their civil rights and dignity, and put meaningful safety nets in place to support them.”
What the $1.5 million buys
Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said the dollars are the point — policy without a funding stream tends to evaporate. “We have spent the last year listening to immigrant communities, hearing their anxieties, their needs and their fears,” Hopkins said. “By dedicating this funding stream, we can now say that we have a mechanism to start addressing these concerns.”
The $1.5 million will be parceled across roughly seven buckets: legal support and removal defense, mental-health support, service-provider coordination, information distribution through “trusted messengers” (think local nonprofits and faith organizations rather than government flyers), language access, coordination with law enforcement to knock down misinformation, and post-detainment family support. Staff will return to the board with specific funding recommendations, so the exact grantees and program shapes will be hashed out later this spring.
The carve-out nobody should miss
The big asterisk: the ordinance binds only departments under the Board of Supervisors. Agencies led by other elected officials — the Sheriff, the District Attorney, and the County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor — aren’t covered. In practical terms, that means the Sheriff’s Office can continue to set its own policy on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, which has been the flashpoint in past North Bay sanctuary debates. Immigrant-rights advocates have historically pushed the Sheriff to match the board’s posture, and that conversation is almost certain to continue into the fall election cycle highlighted at the recent supervisor candidate forums.
The timing also lands in the middle of a tight county budget cycle: supervisors are holding public budget workshops April 20-23 under the shadow of federal safety-net cuts, and the $1.5 million for immigrant services will have to fit inside a 2026-27 spending plan that’s already tight.
Frequently asked questions
Does this stop the Sheriff from cooperating with ICE?
No. The ordinance only binds departments that report to the Board of Supervisors. The Sheriff is a separately elected official and sets the Sheriff’s Office’s own policy on federal immigration enforcement cooperation. Any change there would come from the Sheriff directly or through a separate policy process.
Can ICE still operate in Sonoma County?
Federal agents can still operate in the county — the ordinance doesn’t (and legally couldn’t) block federal enforcement authority. What the ordinance does is deny them logistical help from county government: no county staff cooperating, no county property used as a staging area, no sharing of immigration-status data unless required by law. ICE operations that don’t rely on county assistance can still proceed.
When does the ordinance take effect?
The April 7 vote was the first reading. A second reading and final adoption is scheduled for April 28, 2026, at which point the ordinance becomes law. The $1.5 million fund still needs a follow-up vote on specific allocations, which staff will bring back to the board in the coming weeks.
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