A reported surge in [immigration enforcement activity](https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article317689315.html) in the [Sacramento region](https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article317806270.html) has renewed calls from local activists for police to stop “colluding” with ICE, an accusation that the department has emphatically and repeatedly denied.

But a [Tuesday post](https://www.instagram.com/p/DfAv-QvAfjN/) from the immigration advocacy group NorCal Resist prompted Sacramento City Manager Maraskeshia Smith to formally limit the police department’s response to federal agents’ requests for service.

NorCal Resist alleges that on Tuesday morning Sacramento police officers conducted a traffic stop on lawful observers of ICE enforcement in south Sacramento, detaining them for 20 minutes. The observers then encountered the same officers meeting with what appears to be a masked federal agent a few blocks away, according to NorCal Resist.

The post included a photo of the alleged conversation and a brief video of one officer telling the ICE observer filming to “get out of the neighborhood for now.” NorCal Resist called upon people to demand accountability from the city, specifically the city manager.

Alyssa Gatti identified herself at the City Council meeting Tuesday night as one of the people detained by local police in south Sacramento earlier that day. She said that while detained, officers did not cite any penal code that she was in violation of.

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One voice joining the call to action was Councilmember Mai Vang, who asked that Sacramento Police Department [“stop colluding” with ICE](https://www.instagram.com/p/DfA0niMySNq/) in a Tuesday post.

“I do really believe, as a council member, that we’ve fallen short as a sanctuary city,” she said at the council meeting Tuesday night.

A few hours after the video was published, Smith wrote a three-page letter to interim chief Zachary Bales, writing in bold: “Sacramento Police officers are not, and shall not act as, a security detail for ICE or its immigration enforcement operations.”

“Effective immediately, officers shall not be dispatched to assist ICE agents solely because individuals are following their vehicles, observing their activities, recording their operations, or otherwise engaging in lawful conduct,” she wrote in the letter obtained by The Sacramento Bee.

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In response to accusations that Sacramento police have aided ICE operations, the department has [pointed to its policy](https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article317689315.html#:~:text=Trouble%20at%20ICE%20field%20office) which says that “SPD personnel may take steps necessary to safeguard lives and property, such as maintaining a safe perimeter or directing traffic when needed,” but has maintained that they do not assist with immigration enforcement.

California law prohibits law enforcement from using resources to assist immigration enforcement, and guidance from Attorney General Rob Bonta emphasizes that whether police involvement violates state law depends on specific circumstances.

Smith’s order to Sacramento police clarified what constitutes a threat to safety, saying that “simply characterizing an assignment as a public safety response does not automatically establish that it complies with California law.”

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This is not the first time Sacramento police have been accused of aiding immigration enforcement. Activists at the John E. Moss Federal Building in downtown Sacramento, which houses ICE field offices, allege they have witnessed Sacramento police directing traffic for federal immigration agents, including escorting vehicles the wrong way down N Street to reach the back gates.

Sacramento police have also received criticism for arresting protesters in recent months, including the detainment two protesters in September that was recorded on [video](https://www.instagram.com/p/DdtvjLhxP8m/).