Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made the arrests Tuesday at Sonoma County Superior Court, prompting an outcry from criminal justice and court officials who said the action undermines local authority and deters immigrants who are in the country illegally from participating in the U.S. justice system.

ICE said California's law doesn't supersede federal law and "will not govern the conduct of federal officers acting pursuant to duly-enacted laws passed by Congress that provide the authority to make administrative arrests of removable aliens inside the United States."

"Our officers will not have their hands tied by sanctuary rules when enforcing immigration laws to remove criminal aliens from our communities," David Jennings, ICE's field office director in San Francisco, said in the statement.

California is one of several states that have passed laws to push back on a Trump administration policy introduced two years ago to make immigration arrests inside courthouses. Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law to prohibit immigration arrests at courthouses without a warrant issued by a judge.

The arrests in Sonoma County came days after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced the agency will participate in ICE's escalating immigration enforcement across the country in jurisdictions with sanctuary policies such as California and San Francisco.

Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch, Public Defender Kathleen Pozzi and San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin condemned the arrests for undermining public safety. Sonoma County counsel Bruce Goldstein called ICE's actions "lawless" because the agents had no warrants.


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