Like any person elected to public office, San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez is responsible for serving in the interest of the public good. That is the social contract to which we ascribe authority to someone exercising political power, especially someone required to enforce local and state laws. Whether Sheriff Martinez should be swayed or not by larger political issues, such as the anti-immigrant fervor shaping public policy today, is perhaps not the true problem she faces.
Sheriff Martinez should be more concerned about how to carry out her duties in a principled way, with integrity, and with values that uphold the premise that every person in with her department should be treated with dignity and respect. She should also be concerned that politicians wielding significant power in the federal government seek to weaponize elected positions such as hers, to advance fascistic orders that would harm, criminalize and persecute people in a vulnerable situation.
The position she holds and how she chooses to exert her power must comply with the law, but it must also consider the larger political implications of collaborating with forces that undermine human rights ethics.
Sheriff Martinez already is failing to comply with the California Values Act, SB 54, which, since 2018, prohibits local and state law enforcement from cooperating with federal authorities on most immigration enforcement actions.
When the county Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 1 in December 2024 to prevent the use of its resources and funding to assist federal immigration agents with deportations, Sheriff Martinez almost immediately stated in a tweet she would not honor the new board resolution: “The Sheriff’s Office will not change its practices based on the board resolution and policy that was ed at today’s meeting.”
The board approved the resolution in anticipation of increased immigration raids and mass deportations that the incoming Trump istration had been promising. The intention with the resolution was to broaden protections and to remove the discretionary power for Sheriff Martinez to share information with immigration agencies.
In her statement, Sheriff Martinez refers to Section 7282.5 of the California Government Code, which gives her the option to transfer individuals to immigration authorities such as Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) or notify them of release dates even without a judicial warrant.
However, Section 7282.5a is clear that “A law enforcement official shall have discretion to cooperate with immigration authorities only if doing so would not violate any federal, state, or local law, or local policy” [emphasis added]. In fact, the board’s resolution is local policy.
By not complying with the board resolution, Sheriff Martinez is knowingly violating SB 54.
The San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium sent Sheriff Martinez a letter a day after the county board voted for the resolution, asserting she must follow the resolution. The coalition of over 40 San Diego County-based organizations, whose work covers immigrant and refugee rights, noted, “We hope that your statement was a mere misunderstanding on your part of the full scope of the California Values Act, and not a flagrant disregard for state law, our democratic processes and our constitutional rights.”
Ian Seruelo, the chair of the Immigrant Rights Consortium and an immigration attorney, also noted in a March news report that Sheriff Martinez has already violated SB 54 since disregarding the new board resolution.
KPBS also has found that there are several “questionable transfers” after advocates identified a man who the Sheriff’s Department detained and then transferred him to ICE because he had a 21-year-old felony conviction, beyond the 15-year threshold permitted under Senate Bill 54.
What we know of ICE even before this istration expanded its reach in communities is that in San Diego County, it separated families in violent raids, traumatized children and used questionable tactics to execute warrants.
As the Trump istration intentionally disregards the Supreme Court’s ruling that migrants should be afforded due process before being sent to a third country to be imprisoned under dubious legal rationale, Sheriff Martinez must understand that her actions could land someone in a torture chamber.
Sheriff Martinez could easily resolve this predicament of her own making. She could choose to fully comply with Senate Bill 54, abide by the board resolution and stop making excuses for deliberately violating the law.
Rios is director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Program, American Friends Service Committee. He lives in Chula Vista.
