U.S. Attorney's Office launches Operation Guardian Angel to neutralize CA's sanctuary state policy by issuing federal arrest warrants for "criminal illegal aliens incarcerated in county jails"

 

This press release was issued today. The same day an imate  in jail in Los Angeles was transferred to ICE custody under Operation Guardian Angel. While the press release refers to Central District counties in one paragraph, most of the press release refers to California's sanctuary policy.

I  reached out to Humboldt County Sheriff Honsal and Humboldt County Board of Supervisor Chair and Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell for comment.

 Sheriff Honsal sent me this response, "Yes, this is true, and its exactly what the state sheriffs have been asking for.    This is my directive sent out last week to my deputies:

Good afternoon,

As of late, the federal government has begun entering both criminal and civil warrants into NCIC. Under SB 54, we may only enforce criminal or “judicial”  federal warrants.   A judicial warrant is one issued by a federal judge or magistrate based on probable cause for a violation of federal criminal law, including immigration law.  The Values Act does not prohibit us from responding and taking action on criminal warrants in NCIC.

Procedure:

When an NCIC check returns a federal warrant, confirm it is a judicial warrant signed by a judge or magistrate.

If confirmed, arrest, transport, and book the individual into the jail.

The jail will notify federal authorities, and ICE will arrange pickup within 36 hours.

Supervisor Bushnell responded, "We don’t have a meeting for two weeks and I’m not sure what stands are Board is going to take personally we don’t get in the way of Sheriffs dealings, especially federal law being a sanctuary county however I’m not sure how the board will feel about it all."

U.S. Attorney's Office Press Release:

The United States Attorney’s Office along with its federal law enforcement partners today announced the launch of Operation Guardian Angel, a program that seeks to neutralize California’s sanctuary state policy and protect Americans from criminal illegal aliens incarcerated in county jails by issuing federal arrest warrants for them.

The Central District of California – comprised of the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura – is home to an estimated 1.5 million illegal aliens. Among this population are gang members and other dangerous felons. 

The operation will file complaints and arrest warrants to allow federal law enforcement to take as many defendants as possible into custody from state jails. The program, which began May 10, has resulted in the arrest of 13 defendants as of May 15. Those numbers are expected to grow.

“Even the worst criminal aliens in state custody are frequently released into the community because California’s sanctuary state policies block cooperation with federal law enforcement,” said United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “These laws effectively render federal immigration detainers meaningless. The days of giving criminal illegal aliens a free pass are over. While California may be presently disregarding detainers, it cannot ignore federal arrest warrants.”

The danger to the community of state protection of criminal illegal aliens could not be starker. In February 2025, José Cristian Saravia-Sánchez, 30, of Mexico, shot and killed an Inglewood man who tried to stop him from stealing a catalytic converter. Despite the fact he was an illegal alien who had been convicted of vehicle theft, was removed from the United States in 2013, and had been arrested 11 times between June 2022 and August 2024, local law enforcement was prevented by state law from complying with an immigration detainer request.

The goal of Operation Guardian Angel is to neutralize – as far as possible – California’s sanctuary state policy and make our community safer.