Opinion: Sheriff is right to uphold state law to protect community safety

When Donald Trump was first elected in 2016, fear swept through immigrant communities across California. Families worried about being separated from their loved ones. Friends and neighbors feared deportation.

In response to these threats, communities organized and demanded that local and state elected leaders step up to protect all Californians. State leaders heard the collective call for action from the community and responded by passing the California Values Act (SB 54) in 2017.

In passing SB 54, California made a clear statement about who we are, recognizing both the value of the state’s immigrant communities and the critical need to build trust between those communities and local and state law enforcement. 

The California Values Act prevents our local and state resources from being used for immigration enforcement by limiting the ways local and state law enforcement officers work with federal immigration authorities. Public safety depends on community trust in law enforcement.

When community members believe a call to the police could lead to deportation — for themselves, a family member or their neighbors — they stop reaching out for help. This means victims will not reach out, and witnesses to crimes will not come forward and report crimes.

Ultimately, this puts everyone in danger — not just immigrants. Even the perception that local law enforcement is colluding with federal immigration agents erodes community trust and creates fear. It is in the best interest of our local law enforcement not to be involved in immigration enforcement. 

Upon taking office again in January, President Trump moved swiftly to resume his deportation agenda, bypassing due process and ignoring basic human rights. He targeted California specifically for its pro-immigrant laws, including SB 54, despite having lost legal challenges against them during his first term.

Federal immigration agencies have raided local businesses, ambushed community members at their immigration court hearings, and used excessive force to intimidate not only immigrants but anyone who dares to stand up and protest.

The result has been a chilling effect: People are afraid to leave their homes to go to work, take their children to school, or even buy groceries. It has also heightened fear in the community of not just federal immigration agents, but of local law enforcement as well.

Recently, the Trump administration requested California sheriffs provide federal immigration authorities with data on all noncitizens in their custody, without a judicial warrant. This was a move to circumvent the California Values Act and the county’s own Board Policy on Immigration Enforcement, and an attempt to coerce local sheriffs into executing a federal agenda that upends due process, undermines fundamental constitutional protections, and erodes public trust. 

San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez chose not to comply with this request; she instead opted to uphold state law and to protect the rights of the people in her care. This was the correct choice. Sheriff Martinez has a duty and responsibility to uphold state law and protect human rights, and that is exactly what she did. Rather than be complicit in the violation of human rights and our Constitution, she prioritized the safety and dignity of San Diegans. 

The Trump administration is openly violating human rights, and in doing so, undermining our Constitution. As Californians, we have made our expectations clear — now we need our leaders to stand by them. Now more than ever, it is critical for our leaders to uphold state law and protect human rights.

 Grassi is the associate director of Alliance San Diego and lives in San Diego.