Four hours of public comment came to a close around 8 p.m. Tuesday, all responding to the TRUTH Act community forum, which discussed the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office's interactions with ICE.
"I want to ask the county to stop any cooperation with ICE," said one community member.
"All of you must be 100% on board with and support of federal immigration law," said another speaker.
The TRUTH Act forum began at 1:30 p.m. with Sheriff Ian Parkinson presenting details about his department's involvement with ICE.
He said that when a person is arrested and brought to the county jail, they go through an intake process, including fingerprinting. That then gets uploaded into their system, which is how ICE knows who is in custody, adding that the sheriff's office doesn't directly reach out to ICE.
"We treat everybody that comes into custody as, as close to the same way as possible. And I mean as close as possible because there's always extenuating circumstances," Sheriff Parkinson said.
He explained that in 2024, only one person was released into ICE custody, citing the "open border policy" at the time.
"They would turn around and come right back in," Parkinson said.
In 2025, he said, the border closed, and that's why 69 people were released into ICE custody.
"ICE is an opaque federal agency that operates outside of the bounds of legality and morality. It does not have the specific needs of this community in mind," said one speaker in response.
"I've always supported the sheriff's department and the DA, and I do still believe that they are doing an excellent job," said one community member.
Following the sheriff's presentation, the board of supervisors asked questions, including explanations for recent incidents involving ICE in the county jail lobby.
Sheriff Parkinson also explained his thoughts on turning people over to ICE, saying he feels in some cases doing so helps reduce ICE's impact on families.
"If that person goes back to a residence and ICE goes to that residence to pick them up, if there's four or three other family members living there that aren't documented, they're taking everybody. That's been their policy," Parkinson said.
After the hours of public comment, the board of supervisors deliberated proposed actions they could take, and other ideas brought up at the meeting, and approved a motion directing county staff to look into ways they can reduce ICE action in the county, support families impacted by ICE, and form a subcommittee to help rebuild community trust.
