photo credit: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Bay Area communities are pushing back as focus on federal immigration activity ramps up around the region.

While San Francisco has been spared, for now, from a visible surge of federal agents and national guard troops, immigrant rights activists in Sonoma County say they remain concerned about immigration raids in the North Bay.

Renee Saucedo has been leading calls for Sonoma County's local elected officials to write total non-cooperation with federal immigration enforcement into county law.

"People are experiencing emotional distress because if ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] conducts its enforcement operations here in the same way that they've been doing in other parts of the country, people see themselves being forcibly separated from their families including their children," Saucedo said. "That, I think everyone would agree, is torture."

Sonoma County Sheriff's Office policy is one point of contention.

The department has a stricter information-sharing policy with immigration officials than the state of California mandates, but it does share some publicly accessible information with ICE, like the immigration status of people convicted of serious or violent felonies.

Sonoma County has taken some limited steps to address community concern over immigration raids, but supervisor Lynda Hopkins has said the county cannot overrule federal authorities.

Saucedo argued Sonoma County could devote more money to migrant support services, or follow the model of cities like Chicago and mark government properties as "ICE-free zones".

"Nice words don't really mean much these days," Saucedo said.

Saucedo said she remains concerned about the possibility of an increased presence of federal officers, even as President Trump has waved off the deployment of National Guard troops in San Francisco.

"People suspect that at least in part, that was because the tech community who donated a lot of money to his campaign, asked him to take that stance," Saucedo said. "So, could that happen here with you know, big agriculture, maybe, but we can't rely on that unfortunately."

"Communities are taking the position that we must defend ourselves because we cannot count on elected officials or local government," Saucedo said.

Sonoma County remains aligned with California's 2013 Trust Act and 2016 Truth Act.

Those limit law enforcement's role in immigration detentions and provide transparency around law enforcement communication with ICE.

On Saturday, Saucedo and other local immigrant community supporters are planning a rally and press conference in Santa Rosa to highlight the impacts of federal immigration raids. That's happening just after noon at 1717 Yulupa Avenue in Santa Rosa, at the United Methodist Church.

Meanwhile, Oakland Mayor Barbara said Friday afternoon the federal immigration enforcement surge for the entire Bay Area region planned for the weekend has been called off.