ICE requests for transfers of undocumented rise, but fewer OK’d by Fresno sheriff
Despite hundreds of more requests from ICE to detain and transfer undocumented immigrants from Fresno County Jail, fewer of those arrested and accused of serious crimes were transferred to immigration officials last year than the previous year, Sheriff John Zanoni said Tuesday.
The sheriff’s office detained and transferred 63 undocumented immigrants arrested in 2025 to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That number fell from 102 transfers the previous year, according to a report from Zanoni. There were 39 transfers in 2023.
The decrease in transfers came as the federal agency requested 634 holds on undocumented residents accused of crimes. ICE requested holds on 389 people in custody in 2024, according to the presentation last year for the TRUTH Act, 2017’s Senate Bill 54.
Zanoni told The Bee the number of requests by ICE does not correlate directly to the number of people who are transferred by deputies in Fresno County, because local law enforcement follows California state law in determining who qualifies. He said he could not say for certain why the numbers fluctuate like they do, because he does not communicate with ICE.
“We cannot reach out to them. We cannot give them any information related to this,” he said. “They send the request, we review it, we determine if it’s in compliance with SB 54. If it is, and that individual’s in our custody, then we can accept the transfer request.”
Immigration enforcement ratcheted after President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, and caused significant uproar in the San Joaquin Valley when U.S. Border Patrol agents were spotted making arrests.
More on ICE transfers from Fresno County
There were 27,164 total bookings into Fresno County Jail in 2025. Of the 63 transferred to ICE, 36 included those accused of crimes against people, 13 crimes against property, 10 felony drug cases or DUIs, and three sex crimes, the sheriff said.
Zanoni said the most common felony that qualified for a transfer in 2025 was false imprisonment (10), which is commonly associated with domestic violence incidents. Domestic violence was the second most common at nine, and third was felony burglary with eight. There were five felony DUIs, which includes serious injury or death.
He stressed that his deputies do not themselves check the immigration status of a victim when they call for help, saying deputies should not be feared by anyone living in Fresno County who may need to report a crime.
“I want people to know that we’ve provided police services throughout Fresno County for years,” he said. “We do not deal with immigration status. No one is going to ask you your immigration status if you’re the victim or a witness of a crime. And even if you’re a suspect, the deputies out in the field will not ask you.”
The sheriff’s office also did not provide any space inside a county property for ICE to conduct interviews last year, he said during his report. Zanoni said the practice of using the vestibule as a way to transfer undocumented immigrants to ICE is a thing of the past.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office took heat in 2020 and years that followed by critics who said deputies were skirting SB 54 by putting undocumented immigrants accused of crimes but not qualified to be transferred to ICE into a locked and secured vestibule before they were re-arrested by ICE agents. Critics said then-Sheriff Margaret Mims was using the end around to avoid having to report more transfers to ICE.
“Since I have taken office, they are not allowed in there, because that is considered a secure area,” Zanoni said on Tuesday. “So that was stopped. And if they stand out in front of the jail on a public sidewalk, I can’t control that.”
Supervisors voiced their support of Zanoni on Tuesday after his report.
“I understand the sentiments that people express, and I respect that, but I support ICE,” Supervisor Garry Bredefeld said. “I support our sheriff’s department, and I support law and order, and following federal law.”
Supervisor Luis Chavez said he believed the sheriff’s office works in the community’s best interest.
“Where the issue comes up is when you have the federal agencies targeting folks that are just going to work,” Chavez said. “You have the tamale lady or the food vendor or folks that have done nothing wrong but try to provide a living for their community.”
But the presentation drew concern and criticism of members of the public who spoke, like Jessica Flores, a community organizer with Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network.
“We acknowledge the number of ICE transfers, and that there were fewer, but our goal should be zero transfers,” she said. “SB 54 is a law to limit enforcement, not an invitation to find justification for cooperation.”
