Riverside Sheriff Bianco joins far-right legal group seeking to end sanctuary laws in California

The Inland Empire’s  immigrant community  is concerned after learning that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has joined a lawsuit spearheaded by the far-right legal group America First Legal (AFL) to end sanctuary laws that protect immigrants in California.

The lawsuit was originally filed in March against the State of California, Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Robert Bonta on behalf of the City of Huntington Beach, represented by AFL and the Huntington Beach City Attorney’s Office. It seeks to protect citizens by overturning the state’s sanctuary laws, stating that they violate federal immigration, criminal and civil rights laws. 

On February 17, Bianco announced his candidacy for the 2026 California governor’s race. f He said he is running because the state is declining and going on what he says is “the wrong track” with higher crime, more homelessness and higher taxes. 

Blanco has publicly stated that “immigrant enforcement was the sole responsibility of the federal government” and dismissed community fears about local deputies collaborating with ICE.

Javier Hernandez, executive director at the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (IC4IJ), said it is not a surprise that Bianco has joined the lawsuit. Lately, Bianco, in a similar move to President Donald Trump, has garnered support by attacking immigrants.

However, Bianco is ignoring the fact that California is a state with laws, including  the California Values Act (SB 54), which prohibits local law enforcement from using resources to investigate, interrogate, detain or arrest individuals for immigration enforcement purposes. The law also prohibits local law enforcement from sharing information about release dates or transferring immigrants to federal custody unless there are specific exceptions. 

“The sheriff needs to know. SB 54 is the law, and there's nothing that he can do to try to circumvent that at the moment,” said Hernandez. “And even though he's joining this lawsuit, we are keeping an eye on him to make sure that he complies with SB 54.”

Fearful communities

Hernandez said that the communities are safer when law enforcement has a deeper connection with them.

“So the more you know the people, the more you know the culture, the more you are part of that community, that's safe for the community because people feel safer,” he said. “And people actually do come forward to police departments [and] to sheriffs to really get support when it is needed.” 

However, now with Bianco’s open favoritism of the Trump administration ongoing assault against immigrants, the community is concerned that the sheriff might take a position where he’ll ignore SB 54 or start circumventing the law.

Hernandez said there are many small cities in the Coachella Valley that actually contract with the sheriff. While the cities have their own policies and jurisdictions, the sheriff patrols these cities.

“And the communities are mainly Latino immigrants, and they're also very concerned of what could happen if the sheriff starts enforcing immigration law in these cities,” he said. 

In order to provide support, organizations such as IC4IJ are asking cities that are contracting with the sheriff to double down on their support for SB 54 and to ensure that Sheriff Bianco is aware that he cannot break the law of California and he must protect immigrants.

“He cannot use taxpayers dollars to work with immigration or any agency that is trying to deport immigrants,” said Hernandez.