What are you and your colleagues on the Board of Supervisors prepared to do to protect our immigrant neighbors if and when ICE shows up in our community? And how will you respond if the Trump administration attempts to build an immigrant detention center here? Also, how do you feel about law enforcement (sheriff, etc) sharing information from Flock license plate readers with federal authorities or other jurisdictions outside our county? Thanks.

— Lisa

Response

Natalie Arroyo

Hi Lisa, 

Thank you for this series of very important questions. Our current policies, including the implementation of Measure K as passed by voters, create limits on what information we can and do share with other agencies. However, we have seen that state and federal data has been shared in ways that are outside of our direct control. 

There are no plans to build a center like you’ve described, but if they were to come forward, the County of Humboldt would retain powers related to zoning, land use, and environmental health that would allow us some level of regulatory authority. Other communities have successfully sued based on regulatory guidelines that were violated with proposed centers like this, so we could look to those examples to see what made them successful as well. 

The Sheriff has made clear that his office is responsible for these policies, and our Board has received only a report on the deployment of these cameras. That was back in April 2025, and we were not the decision-makers - it was an opportunity for public comment and for us to receive the information. My understanding is that another update will be coming before our board in the coming weeks, in an informational capacity. That will be another opportunity for public comment. I’m concerned about the extent to which sharing of this data is taking place, and the privacy impacts this has on our community. 

Lastly, with respect to supporting members of the community who are seeking asylum, participants in the DACA program, or other friends and neighbors who are subject to immigration proceedings, I encourage community members to learn about, support, and lift up the work of trusted, community-based organizations. As we have seen, local government has been bypassed in many communities around the country, but community-based grassroots organizations have been able to respond with training for people to understand their rights, connections to legal support, and providing trained observers who can provide accurate information, not cause panic. The local hotline in this community is 707-200-8091. Trained volunteers can verify what is being reported and determine how to support the individuals involved. Unfortunately, false reports are resulting in people staying home from work, not sending children to school, not seeking medical care or essential resources like healthy foods, avoiding reporting crimes committed against them, etc. We are a community that has a strong grassroots approach, support one another in neighbor-to-neighbor ways, and can focus on facts without causing panic. 

 

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