Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna briefs the media during a January 2023 press conference.
Los Angeles, California – As the Trump administration escalates its immigration crackdown in sanctuary jurisdictions, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna is navigating a narrowing legal path—between federal demands for cooperation and California’s laws barring it. On Thursday, Luna made clear that his department will not share inmate data or transfer jailed immigrants to federal custody unless a judicial warrant is presented and signed by a judge.
That position, long enshrined in both California state law and Los Angeles County policy, is once again under pressure. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Department of Justice sent formal requests to Los Angeles and other counties across California, seeking detailed information about jail inmates with immigration holds. The request, according to federal officials, is part of an effort to target and deport undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes. But the actual numbers paint a more complicated picture.
Between October 2024 and June 2025, federal agents arrested 185,000 undocumented immigrants nationwide. Of those, only 2.2% were charged with or convicted of serious offenses like murder or sexual assault. By contrast, 42% had no criminal record in the United States at all. In Los Angeles alone, nearly 2,800 people were taken into federal custody last month as ICE launched its largest regional operation in years. The most intensive period, from June 6 to June 22, saw over 1,600 people arrested in just two weeks.
Still, Luna emphasized that his department has transferred 20 individuals to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in May and June—but only under specific conditions. All of those transferred were inmates with convictions or pending charges for violent or serious crimes, including attempted murder and rape. Every one of those cases, he said, involved a judicial warrant.
“These warrants are an effective and peaceful vehicle in transferring individuals who have committed violent or serious crimes,” Luna told reporters, stressing that his office remains in compliance with both California Senate Bill 54 and the county’s own 2020 sanctuary ordinance.
The Trump administration’s current strategy appears to rely on legally compelling cooperation through judicial warrants—rather than simply issuing civil detainers, which local agencies can lawfully ignore. Luna confirmed that in 2024 alone, his department received 995 civil detainer requests from ICE. None were honored.
While the Department of Justice has hinted that subpoenas or other legal measures may be used to compel information, Luna pushed back on the feasibility of the request itself. “Because we don’t ask somebody if they are here legally or illegally,” he said, “it would be impossible for us to provide a list like that unless we redo our systems one way or another.”
The latest developments show how immigration enforcement has once again become a political proxy battle. On paper, federal warrants provide a lawful mechanism for removing individuals with serious convictions. But in practice, they’re now being wielded in an attempt to force sanctuary jurisdictions like Los Angeles into compliance with a federal agenda—one that has already ensnared thousands of people with no criminal record at all.
