Sonoma County Sheriff Eddie Engram held a meet-and-greet in Bodega Bay Wednesday, which was met with a group of local protesters and community members denouncing the sheriff for handing over 70 people to ICE in 2025, urging him to support a proposed non-compliance ordinance.
As KTVU reports, a standard meet-and-greet that Sonoma County Sheriff Eddie Engram held for west county residents in Bodega Bay Wednesday evening ended up serving as a platform for the larger Sonoma County community to air their grievances to the sheriff for cooperating with ICE, including protestors from the Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition.
The protesters, many of them with the Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition, pointed out that 70 people were released to ICE officials last year, explaining that state law enables the sheriff to refuse participating with ICE altogether, per KTVU.
"People are going straight from the jail, after they've served their sentences, to ICE detention and eventually deportation," said Renee Saucedo of the Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition.
Sheriff Engram argued that his office only acts on warrants from a judge and strictly notifies ICE about immigrants with serious or violent convictions. As Hoodline reports, the sheriff’s office provided the community with details on its policies in a May 11, 2025 letter.
“We only have contact with ICE for serious and violent felonies and only those who have been convicted. My decisions are based on what I think is overall better for community safety,” said Engram, per KTVU.
As KTVU reports, the sanctuary coalition is urging the sheriff and other county officials to support their non-compliance ordinance, which would “legally prohibit the use of County resources to aid federal immigration enforcement, except when absolutely required by state or federal law,” per the group’s website.
According to the coalition’s website, the ordinance “builds upon past actions by the Board of Supervisors, including protections for DACA recipients, support for immigrant legal defense, and public opposition to ICE collaboration, by finally codifying these protections into law.”
Hoodline notes that Sonoma County Supervisor Chris Coursey recently changed his position on the county’s relationship with ICE and has begun pushing the county to cut ties, as reported by the outlet KRCB.
The sanctuary coalition says it will continue to put pressure on the sheriff and board of supervisors to support the ordinance.
Image: Sheriff Eddie Engram/Facebook
