In an effort – and obligation – to remain transparent about the extent of Monterey County Jail’s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office delivered a report to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, causing many at the meeting to speak out against any cooperation with the controversial federal agency.
The obligation stems from the Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds Act, a piece of legislation effective since 2017 that includes a requirement for local governing bodies to hold public forums if they’ve given ICE officials access to incarcerated individuals during the last year.
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According to Chief Deputy Tim Lanquist, while ICE requested access to 295 incarcerated individuals in 2025, only 21 individuals were released into ICE custody that year.
“The vast majority of those requests did not meet California’s strict legal criteria and were not acted upon,” Lanquist said.
That criteria, set out in the California Values Act, allows local law enforcement to share release dates or transfer individuals to ICE only in limited circumstances, such as for serious or violent felonies.
Charges of those released to ICE from the Monterey County Jail ranged from domestic violence and burglary to possession of child pornography and assault with a deadly weapon.
“We recognize that the legislature created these narrow exemptions particularly for violent offenses. That was done intentionally,” Lanquist said. “These safeguards ensure that cooperation with ICE is rare and strictly defined by law.”
However, for county supervisors and many members of the public present at the public hearing on Tuesday, any collaboration with ICE – no matter how rare or strictly defined – was cause for concern, given recent national upset with the agency’s conduct.
“I think the time that we’re in today is very different than the times that we’ve been in in the past,” said District 4 Supervisor Wendy Root-Askew.
“The message of only turning in criminals is the same message as the current federal administration,” said Adriana Melgoza, representing the Solidarity Network Monterey County Response.
“We urge Monterey County to eliminate any collaboration or cooperation between the county and ICE,” Melgoza said. “Regardless of how such collaborations are described or who they claim to target, their presence alone creates fear across our communities.”
Despite the attempt at transparency, the public hearing left members of the board uncertain about what they could do to prevent or limit ICE activity in Monterey County.
“I want to hear more of this conversation as we go through this about what our options are,” said District 3 Supervisor Chris Lopez. “All those pieces as we move forward I think are critical.”
Questions also went unanswered by the Sheriff’s Department regarding Monterey County Jail’s ability to deny collaboration with ICE and its collaboration in the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which provides federal reimbursement to state and local agencies for incarcerating undocumented immigrants for criminal offenses.
“I think I hear a consensus from the board that there’s a desire to get information back from the sheriff,” Root-Askew said. Root-Askew suggested a tentative follow-up with Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto on April 14.