(KRON) – Immigration rights activists gathered in Sonoma County on Saturday to protest local officials’ alleged cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and called for stronger protections for immigrant communities.
Activists, including veterans, community leaders and educators, accused Sheriff Eddie Ingram and Supervisor Linda Hopkins of collaborating with ICE, following reports of meetings to expand information sharing about detainees.
“I didn’t survive three war zones to live in one,” said Sonoma County veteran Nathan Kempthorne, emphasizing the threat he perceives from ICE’s presence.
“We are here to be the moral voice against the immoral actions of an immoral government,” Rev. Beverly Spears declared.
“Don’t you dare come into our vineyards and terrorize our farmworkers here in wine country,” Rene Saucedo warned.
“What we see is that while it creates fear, it does not create the panic that they hope for because we believe in power, not panic,” Dr. Michael Hill noted.
Sheriff Ingram held a face-to-face meeting with ICE to discuss easing restrictions on sharing information about detainees at the county jail, The Press Democrat reported.
Supervisor Linda Hopkins reportedly asked ICE not to target people seeking social services, referring to an incident in which a man was arrested in the lobby of the county probation department.
Linda Evans of Migrant Justice in Action highlighted the urgency of the situation, saying, “This is a critical moment, there is extreme urgency in terms of our sheriff’s cooperation with ICE and our county is not responding as if it is the emergency that it is.”
Activists are urging Sonoma County leaders to create ICE-free zones and declare a state of emergency, emphasizing the need for immediate action to protect vulnerable communities.
All facts contained in this report were collected by journalists working forCrohn4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat the broadcast transcript into a news article for our website. This report was edited and verified by KRON4 staff before deployment.