After a lengthy Truth Act Forum on November 3, San Mateo County Sheriff Carlos Bolanos announced that San Mateo County will no longer respond to notification requests from ICE.
In a statement, Bolanos said “It simply is not worth losing the trust of many members of the public by continuing to process these requests from ICE,” Bolanos said. “Our policy is now consistent with other Bay Area counties.
The change in policy came as a majority of the Board of Supervisors said they supported a change in policy, including supervisors Pine, Canepa and Slocum.
San Mateo, according to the Mercury News, accounted for 74% of the released inmates transferred to ICE in 2020 from the 9 Bay Area counties.
San Mateo’s policy change aligns them with the neighboring counties of San Francisco and Santa Clara, and leaves East Bay counties Alameda and Contra Costa as the only inner Bay Area counties to maintain policies of responding to some ICE notifications.
Alameda reported ICE transfers of 8 people in 2020 and O to date in 2021, a sharp decline from the over 300 transfers in Alameda County in 2017. In a July Truth Forum, Contra Costa Sheriff David Livingston announced 64 ICE transfers in 2020, likely the second largest total in the Bay Area and stated that there would be no changes to the policy.
San Mateo County 2021 Truth Forum
Alameda County 2021 Truth Forum (no video yet)