Urge SF Sheriff to Uphold Sanctuary
San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto
From preparing for ICE raids to unpacking the surprise announcement from Mayor Lurie, this week has truly been a roller coaster. But one thing is clear: not one cent of our local tax dollars should ever be used to aid and abet the abduction of our neighbors.
We have received alarming reports that, as ICE was preparing for mass raids earlier this week, it was pressuring our local law enforcement officials to gut the Sanctuary protections that have kept thousands of families together.
We must remain vigilant. That’s why today, we’re asking you to join us in calling on San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto to resist ICE’s threats and keep our communities safe under current sanctuary laws. He must refuse to turn any of our neighbors over to ICE.
The Trump administration and ICE wants local sheriffs to act as deportation agents. They want the jails to hold community members at local expense, for extra time, beyond the point they would otherwise be released - so that ICE can disappear them. Our sanctuary ordinance limits this collaboration with ICE.
This is critical because once someone is abducted by ICE, they are subject to inhumane conditions, medical neglect, and other systematic abuses in detention (1). And they are at risk of being deported and detained in a “third” country where they face the well-documented threat of torture (2).
Our city should play no part in this great injustice.
ICE has and will continue to vilify people who are incarcerated. News reports have shown that most people targeted by ICE do not have criminal records. At the same time, no one should be subjected to abduction, disappearance, and torture. And everyone should have due process, including the opportunity for an immigration judge to consider their case.
But once people are turned over to ICE, there is no due process at all. That’s why upholding our local sanctuary policies is more important than ever.
Learn more:
See Maya Yang, “Pregnant women report medical neglect in ICE detention, rights groups say,” Guardian US, Oct 22, 2025; Rachel Uranga, “Immigrants decry conditions at former prison, ICE’s largest detention center in California,” Los Angeles Times, Sept 29, 2025
See Daniela Silva and Didi Martinez, “Venezuelans describe being beaten, sexually assaulted and told to 'commit suicide' during El Salvador detention,” NBC News, July 28, 2025.
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To:
San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Sheriff Miyamoto,
At this pivotal and painful moment, we are writing to urge you to fully uphold our local sanctuary ordinance, to protect due process, and not to turn any of our neighbors over to ICE.
We know that ICE has been pressuring our local law enforcement officials to assist with deportations. We are urging you to stand strong.
Regardless of what ICE may be claiming to you, we know this rogue agency has a history of lying to the public. And we know their stated goal is to abduct as many people as possible and to separate families.
Our sanctuary ordinance makes us all safer, protects due process for all residents, and guards against ICE’s abuses of power.
You may be surprised to learn that other Bay Area counties, including Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara, have stronger policies than the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office with bright line policies against turning over community members to ICE. If you choose to exploit optional exceptions in the San Francisco Sanctuary Ordinance to turn a community member over to ICE, you will subject people to severe abuses and irreparable harm:
In ICE detention, people are subject to inhumane conditions, medical neglect, and other systematic abuses. Over 20 people have died this year alone.
ICE is exiling people to “third countries” where they have no ties whatsoever, denying due process and at times defying court orders. And it’s funneling people to prisons like CECOT in El Salvador, where they face the well-documented possibility of torture.
No one should be subjected to human rights abuses, let alone torture. This would be a stain on your legacy and a stain on our city. And once we begin to weaken our due process protections, we will invite more and more abuses of power. All residents will suffer.
Please stand firm and stand up for our most basic principles at this crucial time.