DOJ Demands California Inmate Data Amid Sanctuary Dispute

The U.S. Department of Justice has requested that sheriffs in several major California counties, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Riverside, provide lists of all noncitizen inmates and details about their charges and release dates, as part of a Trump administration effort to prioritize removal of undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes. This federal demand conflicts with California's sanctuary state law (SB 54), which prohibits broad information sharing with federal authorities except in cases involving serious or violent offenses with a judicial warrant. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other officials have condemned the DOJ's request, arguing that local agencies cannot be compelled to violate state law, a position legal experts say is supported by the 10th Amendment. The DOJ has threatened subpoenas or other compulsory measures for non-compliance. Despite the legal conflict, Los Angeles County has resumed some transfers of inmates to ICE using judicial warrants, utilizing a legal exception to sanctuary policies. The dispute underscores the deepening tensions between federal immigration enforcement priorities and California's restrictions on cooperation with ICE.