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The following is a statement on behalf of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors:

“We acknowledge the climate of concern within our community. Many residents have expressed deep apprehension about the hateful rhetoric and the growing divide currently evidenced across our nation–concerns that we fully share.

We seek to assure our community that we will continue to stand firmly in support of our family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors, no matter where they are from, what language they speak, who they love, how they worship, or how they vote.

As local government and community leaders, we specifically and unequivocally reaffirm our commitment to supporting all residents in our community. A relationship of trust between individuals and local agencies, including law enforcement and first responders, schools, hospitals, and service organizations, is essential to carrying out the basic functions of our community and assuring that all residents feel safe and healthy, and have access to the resources necessary to help make our community a safer and healthier place for all. We will ensure transparency of all immigration enforcement action conducted within our community. We acknowledge that trust cannot be cultivated or maintained when the county cooperates with ICE.

We commit to taking all necessary steps to ensure that this trust remains intact and that county and elected officials within the County of Humboldt make every effort to safeguard justice and equity for everyone. We stand prepared to assert and defend these commitments, including through multiple layers of legal and policy protections already in place at the state and local levels:

• County of Humboldt’s Sanctuary Ordinance (Measure K Ordinance 2618): We reaffirm our support for Measure K, our Sanctuary Ordinance.

• California Values Act (SB 54): This act prohibits state and local police from using funds or personnel to support immigration enforcement. This includes preventing police from asking about an individual’s immigration status, sharing a person’s personal information with immigration authorities, or arresting anyone only for having a deportation order or for most other immigration violations.

• TRUTH Act (AB 2792): Ensures transparency and oversight regarding local law enforcement’s communication with federal immigration authorities.

• TRUST Act (AB 4): 
  Limits the circumstances under which local law enforcement can detain individuals on behalf of federal immigration authorities.

Whatever the future holds, we are resilient and ready to meet any challenges presented to our community. We, the County of Humboldt’s elected officials, remain committed to ensuring that our county is a place where all individuals are valued for their unique contributions and where every resident can live without fear.” 

Community members are encouraged to contact your district’s supervisor if you have questions about laws in place to support all Humboldt County residents, including Humboldt County’s Sanctuary Ordinance.

You may also reach out to the Humboldt County Human Rights Commission, whose primary purpose is to recommend actions to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to address issues related to human rights in Humboldt County. The Humboldt County Human Rights Commission may be reached by email at hhr@co.humboldt.ca.us or by calling their toll-free voicemail line at 1-866-809-4373.