BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Advocates and community members gathered at Tuesday's Kern County Board of Supervisors meeting to learn how much the county cooperates with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The meeting was part of the annual Truth Act Forum, a California law that requires local law enforcement agencies to be transparent with the community about their cooperation with ICE.
"We are not involved in the enforcement of immigration law, deportations or immigration sweeps; with that being said, the sheriff's office does cooperate with ICE as allowed by law," Chief Deputy for KCSO Joel Swanson said.
The Sheriff's Office explained how it responds when ICE asks to be notified about someone being released from county custody.
"In 2025, a total of 29,369 individuals were booked into the Kern County Sheriff's Office jails," Swanson said. "During this time, ICE submitted 273 requests for notification of release."
A notification release asks the Sheriff's Office to alert ICE when someone is scheduled for release from custody.
Of those 273 requests, 14 were duplicates, and 13 could not be processed, leaving 246 valid requests. Those requests accounted for less than 1% of all jail bookings, about 0.84%.
Swanson also reported that 31 people were transferred from county jails to ICE custody in 2025, a sharp increase from 2024, when there were only 19 notification requests and 2 transfers.
During public comment, several community members voiced concerns about local law enforcement's role in immigration enforcement.
"There's no requirement for collaboration between ICE and local law enforcement; we can do better," one speaker said.
"As a part of this county, I am ashamed that we are complicit in supporting immigration," another said.
"We ask that we limit and stop this collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE because public safety only works when everyone in the community feels safe calling for help," a third speaker said.
Mayra Joachin, senior staff attorney at the ACLU, said there should be no cooperation between the two agencies.
"Protecting those residents means not collaborating with immigration enforcement; there are separate federal funds for that. Kern County should use its funds and resources to protect the well-being of its community," Joachin said.
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