Two Orange County Sheriff’s Department employees are under internal investigation after surveillance footage appeared to show them speaking with federal agents just before a man was detained at a jail.
The investigation follows a complaint regarding an incident on Oct. 31, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a man as he was leaving the Men’s Central Jail, LA Times reported.
The department has placed a deputy and a sheriff’s special officer on administrative leave while officials determine if the pair violated state law or department policy by potentially alerting federal authorities to the man’s presence.
“Securing the border and enforcing immigration law are important federal responsibilities,” said Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes. “The Orange County Sheriff’s Department does not enforce federal immigration law. That has not and will not change.”
Surveillance video released by the department shows ICE agents parked in an unmarked black SUV on a public street outside the Orange County Jail. The footage captures the deputy and special officer exiting the sheriff’s building to approach the vehicle, where they engaged in a conversation lasting approximately five seconds.
Shortly after that interaction, a second vehicle arrived on the scene. According to a written statement from the department, ICE agents exited both vehicles and entered the public courtyard near the visitor’s entrance to arrest a man who appeared to be hiding there.
The man, identified by his daughter as Jesús Esparza, had been visiting his son at the jail. His daughter, Adriana Esparza, told Telemundo 52 that her father called her from the jail to say ICE was outside before the call ended abruptly as he was being captured.
The arrest has had immediate consequences for the Esparza family. Following her mother’s death, Esparza said her father became the head of the household, responsible for supporting her and her younger brother.
The investigation centers on whether the employees’ actions breached the California Values Act. This state law prohibits local law enforcement agencies from using public resources to assist in federal immigration enforcement, such as sharing specific personal information or detaining individuals solely for immigration purposes.
While the law allows for limited cooperation involving individuals convicted of certain serious crimes, it strictly limits the extent to which local deputies can act as an extension of federal immigration authorities.
The department’s current probe seeks to establish if the five-second exchange between the employees and the agents in the black SUV constituted an unauthorized tip-off that enabled the subsequent arrest.
Sheriff Barnes maintained that the department intends to cooperate with ICE only within the specific bounds of the law, particularly regarding the prevention of serious criminal offenders returning to the community.
“We will enforce state and local laws equally, without bias, and without concern for anyone’s citizenship,” Barnes said.
“I want the community to continue to feel safe in calling for assistance, reporting crime and visiting the jail regardless of their immigration status,” Barnes added.
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