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San Mateo County could be the first county in the country to introduce a public notice system for local Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
On Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the introduction of an ordinance that would mandate county officials alert the community of nearby ICE operations they find out about, further limit cooperation with ICE, and regulate law enforcement’s use of face masks and other identity-concealing tactics.
The board’s official action came days after this news organization released a report on Nov. 12 about how many local leaders don’t inform the public when they learn that ICE could be in the area, and that San Mateo County is split over when and how much to notify residents about ICE operations.
Corzo began by noting that she and Mueller had been working on this item for months alongside the San Mateo County Coalition for Immigrant Rights and other stakeholders.
“This ordinance is a powerful and needed step forward in protecting every person in our county,” Corzo said, “and setting a new standard for transparency and trust.”
Increased immigration enforcement locally is negatively impacting the community by “causing fear, displacement, loss of work, and loss of class time,” the ordinance states.
ICE detained at least 45 San Mateo County residents in September and October, according to Faith in Action, a nonprofit that doubles as the county’s ICE rapid-response unit.
One solution the measure offers is “periodic reports on immigration enforcement communications and activity” in the county.
County departments are not required, at the moment, to report to the Board of Supervisors or the public regarding communications or actions taken with respect to immigration enforcement, other than those outlined in the TRUTH Act, which protects the rights of immigrants in custody.
The measure would require all county departments to report any interactions with immigration authorities, and the Parks Department to report any identifiable ICE agents who access county parks, to County Executive Mike Callagy within 24 hours of the occurrence.
Callagy would then keep a log of such reports and provide a quarterly summary to the board.
The county’s new sheriff, Ken Binder, and the chief probation officer, John Keene, would also have to share the number of immigration detainer requests filed throughout the year by ICE no later than Jan. 1, 2026, on the supervisors’ meeting agenda and the Sheriff’s Office website.
Additionally, the sheriff and probation officer would have to submit a report to the supervisors by March, June, September, and December each year, describing all communications received from and made to ICE. They would have to share in these reports any immigration enforcement actions they’re aware of that occurred in the county, including deportations, workplace raids, and other surveillance.
Gretchen Spiker, the director of communications for the Sheriff’s Office, told this news organization earlier this month that the Sheriff’s Office has received over 800 requests from ICE regarding immigrant detentions since March, and has not complied with a single one.
In April of 2023, the Board of Supervisors voted to establish a low-cooperation policy with immigration agents, meaning local representatives can’t assist ICE with property, personnel, or money unless legally required to do so through a judicial warrant.
This ordinance would be amended to prohibit immigration authorities from accessing the county-owned range at Coyote Point Park without a judicial warrant and to assist in traffic enforcement to aid immigration enforcement.
The measure also points out that the use of face coverings, the use of unmarked vehicles, and the lack of identification by immigration authorities “has raised concerns for public safety.” Beyond sowing fear among those involved and onlookers, regional law enforcement is struggling to distinguish between authorized personnel and “bad actors.”
In response, the ordinance proposes that all sworn personnel visibly display their agency identification and name or badge number when performing enforcement duties. The caveat is only in a “specific, articulable and particularized” instance when identification would pose a “significant danger” to the physical safety of the officer. “Generalized and undifferentiated fear and apprehension” would not be enough to justify the use of face coverings.
The Coalition for Immigrant Rights presented to the board their perceptions of the impact of increased immigration enforcement in the community. The representatives noted that families are afraid to leave their homes to attend health appointments, visit sick relatives, or drop off their children to start college, among other fear-induced limitations.
Rebecca Archer, the chief deputy county attorney, then took to the podium to outline the changes to Chapter 2.48 of the county’s ordinance code that this measure would make.
Supervisor Lisa Gauthier said she’s meeting with Congressman Kevin Mullin Tuesday evening, alongside other nonprofits, to discuss safety amid an uptick in federal immigration enforcement, noting that “ICE is just not respecting anyone at this point.”
When asked by Board President David Canepa if there had been any immigration enforcement operatives inside county facilities, which could be illegal in some cases, Archer and Callagy said not to their knowledge.
Some members of the public celebrated the measure at the meeting, like Chloe Dillon, the head of criminal immigration defense with the county’s Private Defender Program, who called it “very timely.”
Other commenters, like one who goes by Bruce, worried about the precedent that could be set if non-governmental organizations that “do not take an oath” insert themselves “between government and people.”
In Corzo’s closing remarks before she voted yes on the measure, she acknowledged some allegations that the board is not sympathetic toward survivors of crime, given President Trump’s stated immigration enforcement vision to eradicate the country of foreign criminals.
She responded by saying that statistically, the immigrant community is less likely to engage in crime, compared to citizens.
This is true according to a 2024 report by the National Institute of Justice, which found that undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and drug crimes.
“To my awareness, ICE is still in the area,” Corzo said at the meeting. “This [ordinance,] I would say, is the floor and it doesn’t cover everything.”
Mueller followed up by stating that the ordinance “really speaks to the 99.999% of those residents who are living in our county undocumented,” and that everyone on the board agrees they are members of the community who are “loved and respected and cherished.”
The measure passed unanimously and will take effect after a second and final reading at an upcoming meeting.
If approved, the ordinance would represent one of the county’s “most expansive efforts in recent years to draw clear boundaries between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities,” a county press release by Public Information Officer Marshall Wilson stated.
