MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is reporting a rise in local ICE arrests.
They gave their annual report before the County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
The TRUTH Act, passed in 2017, protects those who have been incarcerated if they do not wish to be in
terviewed by ICE. It also requires local agencies that assist ICE to report the number of deportations to the public.
So far, this year’s report is much higher than anything in recent years.
Assistant Sheriff Brian Esteves says it’s a direct result of the new presidential administration.
“This year we’re already up to seven or eight, as opposed to just one last year,” Esteves said.
The most recent report from 2023 shows Madera County booked 4,787 people. Of those, only one was released to ICE.
The Trump Administration has applied more pressure on ICE to increase deportations, though.
“It appears the new administration has an increased focus on this and they’re responding to these requests a little bit more frequently,” Esteves said.
If Madera County continues on its current 2025 trajectory, it would assist in about 38 ICE arrests by the end of the year – a sharp increase compared to 2023.
The sheriff’s office can’t just turn anyone over to ICE, though.
The person must be convicted of a serious charge, such as being a violent felon, an arsonist or a sex offender.
“If you look at the list of serious and violent crimes that are there, I think we don’t want those people in our community,” Esteves said.
He says the way it works is ICE reaches out to the sheriff’s office asking if they have certain people in their jail.
If the answer is yes, the county tells ICE when each person’s release date is.
“We don’t hold them any longer than the release date, but we let [ICE] know, ‘Hey, this is when they’re done in our custody,’ and usually they’re there waiting,” Esteves said.
At the end of the sheriff’s office’s presentation, the County Board of Supervisors asked if anyone from the county or the public had a question or comment -but no one did. ...read more read less
