San Mateo County Municipal Code Ch. 2.48 Non-Cooperation with Immigration Authorities

(a) All County of San Mateo ("County") departments, agencies, commissions, officers, agents, representatives, and employees are prohibited from using County resources, property, personnel, time, labor, or funds to:

1. Assist or cooperate with requests by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other immigration authorities or persons, or entities contracted for immigration enforcement purposes ("Immigration Authorities"), to hold, detain, house, transfer, or otherwise facilitate the arrest of any person in the custody of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, Probation Department, or any other County Department, unless pursuant to a judicial warrant (as defined in California Government Code § 7284.4(i)) or otherwise required by federal or state statute, regulation, or court decision; or

2. Communicate with Immigration Authorities regarding an individual's release time, date, or place, home or work address, or contact information, or to otherwise assist or cooperate in any immigration enforcement activities, including information gathering, unless pursuant to a judicial warrant (as defined in California Government Code § 7284.4(i)) or otherwise required by federal or state statute, regulation, or court decision; or

3. Provide access to or use of non-public County property, including but not limited to, County jails, stations, courthouse holding cells, conference rooms, and databases to Immigration Authorities, unless pursuant to a judicial warrant (as defined in California Government Code § 7284.4(i)) or otherwise required by federal or state statute, regulation, or court decision.

(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of Section 2.48.010(a), County departments, agencies, commissions, officers, agents, representatives, and employees may use County resources, property, personnel, time, labor, or funds to assist or cooperate with Immigration Authorities solely for the purpose of providing assistance with the investigation or enforcement activities of any local, state, or federal law enforcement agency relating to suspected violations of any federal or state criminal statute, regulation, or court decision, provided, however, that such activities do not involve immigration enforcement as defined in California Government Code § 7284.4(f).

(c) The prohibition on using County resources expressly prohibits County departments, agencies, commissions, officers, agents, representatives, employees, and volunteers from allowing Immigration Authorities access to the County-owned range at Coyote Point Park without a judicial warrant.

(d) The prohibition on using County resources expressly prohibits County departments, agencies, commissions, officers, agents, representatives, employees, and volunteers from using funds or personnel to assist in traffic enforcement for the purpose of aiding immigration enforcement or allowing Immigration Authorities access to County property for purposes of staging or establishing an operational base for a federal immigration enforcement action.

(Ord. No. 04875, § 2, 4-25-2023; Ord. No. 4915, § 2, 11-4-2025)

(a) No later than January 1, 2026, the Sheriff and Chief Probation Officer shall each place on a Board of Supervisors meeting agenda and post on the Sheriff's Office website a written report stating the number of immigration detainer requests from Immigration Authorities received from January 1, 2025, to the reporting deadline. Thereafter, the Sheriff and Chief Probation Officer shall each submit a written report to the Board of Supervisors by March 1st, June 1st, September 1st, and December 1st of each year, addressing the following issues for the time period covered by the report:

1. A description of all communications received from any Immigration Authorities, including but not limited to, the number of civil immigration detainers, notification requests, or other types of communications related to immigration enforcement including the failure to notify any inmates of a detention request as required by the TRUTH Act (Cal Gov Code sec. 72831.1(b).)

2. A description of any communications the Department made to the Immigration Authorities, including but not limited to any Department's responses to inquiries as described herein.

(b) The Sheriff and Chief Probation Officer shall additionally include in their periodic reports a description of any immigration enforcement actions that the Department is aware of that were undertaken by the Immigration Authorities within the County, including but not limited to deportations, detentions, workplace raids or other surveillance observed by the Sheriff or Chief Probation Officer.

(c) All County Departments shall report any interactions with Immigration Authorities, including, but not limited to, any service of subpoenas, warrants or surveillance of County facilities to the County Executive within twenty-four (24) hours of their occurrence. The County Executive shall keep a log of such Departmental reports and provide a summary of Departmental interactions with Immigration Authorities to the Board according to the schedule provided in subsection (a).

(d) County Parks Department shall provide a report to the County Executive of any identifiable Immigration Authorities accessing County Parks within twenty-four (24) hours of the occurrence.

(Ord. No. 4915, § 3, 11-4-2025)

(a) Beginning on January 1, 2026 the Sheriff shall maintain and publicly post a written policy on the visible identification of law enforcement agency personnel as defined in Government Code Section 7288(c)(2). The policy shall include, at minimum, the following:

1. A purpose statement affirming the agency's commitment to both of the following:

A. Transparency, accountability, and public trust.

B. Restricting situations in which sworn personnel do not visibly display identification to specific, clearly defined, and limited circumstances.

2. A requirement that all sworn personnel visibly display identification that includes their agency and either a name or badge number, or both name and badge number, when performing enforcement duties.

3. A list of narrowly tailored exemptions for the following:

A. Officers engaged in active undercover operations or investigative activities.

B. Officers wearing personal protective equipment that prevents display.

C. Exigent circumstances, involving an imminent danger to persons or property, or the escape of a perpetrator, or the destruction of evidence, including if the officer is responding to those circumstances while off-duty.

D. When there is a specific, articulable, and particularized reason to believe identification would pose a significant danger to the physical safety of the peace officer.

(b) The Sheriff shall develop, maintain and publicly post a written policy regarding the use of facial coverings. The policy shall include, but not be limited to, each of the following:

1. A purpose statement affirming the Sheriff's commitment to the following:

A. Transparency, accountability and public trust.

B. Restricting the use of facial coverings to specific, clearly defined, and limited circumstances.

C. The principle that generalized and undifferentiated fear and apprehension about officer safety shall not be sufficient to justify the use of facial coverings.

2. A requirement that all sworn personnel not use a facial covering when performing their duties.

3. A list of narrowly tailored exemptions for the following:

A. Active undercover operations or assignments authorized by supervising personnel or court order.

B. Tactical operations where protective gear is required for physical safety.

C. Applicable law governing occupational health and safety.

D. Protection of identity during prosecution.

E. Applicable law governing reasonable accommodations.

4. Opaque facial coverings shall only be used when no other reasonable alternative exists and the necessity is documented.

5. Pursuant to the policy, a supervisor shall not knowingly allow a peace officer under their supervision to violate state law or agency policy limiting the use of a facial covering.

(Ord. No. 4915, § 4, 11-4-2025)

(a) Construction with Other Laws. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to violate any State or Federal laws with regard to immigration or other law enforcement. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as contrary to or in defiance of any Federal or State Law.

(b) Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this chapter or its application is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed this chapter and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, and word not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any other portion of this chapter would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional. To this end, the provisions of this chapter, and each of them, are severable.

(Ord. No. 4915, § 5, 11-4-2025)