photo credit: Shandra Back
Protesters hold signs outside the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

About a dozen protesters stood outside the Sonoma County Sheriff’s office to condemn the release of an undocumented immigrant to federal agents inside the County Jail.

Carlos — whose last name was not provided to KRCB News — had been held in the jail since January. 

His sister, Yoana, said she went to the jail Thursday after learning he was scheduled to be released. She spoke at the gathering over the phone, explaining that staff first told her he was still “in the system” and asked her to wait in the lobby.

After about an hour, she said staff told her he no longer appeared in the system — meaning he was no longer in the building.

“How is it possible if my brother never left?” she said in Spanish. “He never walked out through the door where everyone else leaves.”

Later that afternoon, Yoana said she received a call from Carlos. He told her that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had detained him inside the jail and were already transporting him to a detention facility.

“Where is my brother?” she said. “Why did they hand him over to immigration? Why didn’t they tell me anything?”

Sheriff Eddie Engram told KRCB News the department received an ICE request and complied. He said the agency follows state law, known as Senate Bill 54, along with an internal policy that limits when staff respond to ICE notifications.

“The people in our records division within the jail go through, and we have the matrix which determines whether there is a yes‑notify or a no‑notify,” Engram said.

Engram said ICE is legally allowed to enter certain non‑public areas of the jail to make a transfer, when an ICE handoff happens because there is a warrant or other legal order, or an arrest, when ICE itself takes the person into custody.

“Transfers or arrests are typically safely made inside the confines of a secured facility,” Engram said.

Critics dispute that interpretation, saying SB 54 was designed to curb local cooperation with immigration agents. They argue the line between a transfer and an arrest becomes blurred when jail staff provide notice and allow ICE to take custody inside the facility.

Activists at Monday’s protest said the arrest should not have happened inside the building and urged the sheriff to end all contact with ICE.