Sheriff Locks Down Santa Rita Jail Access After ICE Arrests in Lobby; County Tells Agents to Stay Off County Property

(DUBLIN, Calif.)— The Alameda County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday limited access to Santa Rita Jail to people with appointments or official business, effective immediately. The move came a day after county attorneys told federal immigration agents to stop using the Dublin jail for arrests.

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In a letter sent Monday, Interim County Counsel Andrea Weddle told Julio Hernandez, acting field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's San Francisco office, that ICE agents must stay off jail grounds and "all other county-owned or -controlled property for civil immigration enforcement activities."

The letter describes repeated incidents in which ICE personnel ignored Sheriff's Office staff who told them to leave jail facilities and stop their activities.

On Nov. 1, according to the Sheriff's Office and the county's letter, an ICE agent chased a man from the jail parking lot into the lobby and forcibly arrested him there. On Nov. 8, two ICE agents were involved in a physical confrontation with members of the public inside the jail lobby. Weddle wrote that confrontations like these at the jail create an unacceptable risk of confusion and physical harm.

The jail incidents followed an Oct. 25 arrest near Santa Rita that the Department of Homeland Security described as a targeted enforcement operation.

The Sheriff's Office said Saturday that it does not take part in federal civil immigration enforcement or honor administrative immigration warrants. In announcing the new access rules, the office said it remains committed to keeping the jail safe and secure.

The county's action comes amid a wave of reported ICE activity in the East Bay. The Alameda County Immigrant Legal and Education Partnership reported at least eight people detained across the county between Oct. 16 and late October, two of whom required hospitalization. On Nov. 5, the group reported four more arrests in central Livermore, including one in the Grocery Outlet parking lot on Railroad Avenue.

At Livermore's City Council meeting this week, City Manager Marianna Burch said the city is drafting administrative policies on dealings with immigration authorities. State Attorney General guidance requires those policies by Jan. 1, 2027.

The Sheriff's Office has not said how long the jail access restrictions will stay in place.

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