Sacramento city manager sends letter to police department over assisting ICE operations

Maraskeshia Smith, Sacramento's city manager, sent a letter Tuesday afternoon to the Sacramento Police Department regarding city police assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with operations inside city limits, city officials confirmed.

CBS News Sacramento obtained and reviewed a copy of the letter, which was disseminated to all employees at the police department. The contents of the letter discuss requests of police assistance by ICE and include direction from Smith regarding when to respond to said requests. 

In the letter, Smith directs the department to only respond to requests for assistance if the circumstances establish a credible threat to agents.  The letter said the department is obligated to respond if an ICE agent is in credible danger, but that the department should not interfere with lawful demonstrations or observations of enforcement activity. 

"Sacramento Police officers are not, and shall not act as, a security detail for ICE or its immigration enforcement operations," Smith wrote in the letter. "The mere presence of individuals observing federal agents, even when those agents find the attention unwelcome or uncomfortable, does not establish a public safety emergency or justify a police response."

California state law prohibits state law enforcement agencies from assisting federal authorities with immigration enforcement, after Senate Bill 54, or the California Values Act, was signed into law in 2018.

Smith said in the letter that the department is obligated to respond if an ICE agent is in credible danger, but that the department should not interfere with lawful demonstrations or observations of enforcement activity. 

The police department deferred to department protocol when asked for comment, which states that immigration enforcement is the responsibility of federal authorities, and Sacramento police will not use any city funds or resources to enforce immigration law. 

The Sacramento Police Officer's Association said that its officers do not want to engage in immigration enforcement, and officers will only respond if a law is being broken.

CBS News Sacramento has reached out to Maraskeshia Smith for comment on why she sent the letter to the police department.