LA Sheriff Denounces Threats by DOJ Over Lists of Undocumented Immigrants in County Jails

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said that the U.S. Department of Justice has threatened him with potential federal charges if his office does not comply with requests to share information on undocumented inmates held in local jails.

Speaking at a news conference, Luna said:

"I've personally received, I'm going to call it, threatening letters from the federal government to make sure that we are cooperating with them, doing civil immigration enforcement. A lot of them say, if you don't, there's going to be consequences up to the point of you being charged federally."

The Department of Justice confirmed in a statement that it has issued requests to sheriff's departments in several California counties—including Los Angeles and San Francisco—for lists of inmates who are not U.S. citizens, their criminal charges or convictions, and their expected release dates. The department framed the request as part of its strategy to prioritize the removal of undocumented individuals with criminal records:

"In recent years, the United States suffered an invasion of illegal aliens at an unprecedented scale. Far too many of those illegal aliens have gone on to commit crimes on American soil, including rapes, murders, and other violent crimes. Today's data requests are designed to assist federal immigration authorities in prioritizing the removal of illegal aliens who committed crimes after illegally entering the United States"

"Removing criminal illegal aliens is this Administration's highest priority," added Attorney General Pam Bondi. "I look forward to cooperating with California's county sheriffs to accomplish our shared duty of keeping Californians and all Americans safe and secure."

Sheriff Luna, however, said his department cannot fulfill the DOJ's request even if it wanted to. "We don't ask for immigration status," Luna said. "I don't know how we're going to provide a list to anybody, whether it's the fed or anybody else." California's sanctuary laws prohibit local law enforcement from sharing inmate information with immigration authorities unless a warrant is presented.

Luna added that while the DOJ has requested information on 435 inmates so far this year, his office has only acted on the 20 cases for which federal agents obtained warrants. "We have not fulfilled any of them because of state law," he said.

The efforts by the DOJ are the latest in the Trump administration's expanding efforts to enforce immigration through federal channels. A new agreement, revealed on Thursday, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to a Medicaid database containing personal data of nearly 79 million enrollees. This includes home addresses and other identifying information. ICE is authorized to use the data for investigations during business hours through early September.