Monterey County Told ICE to Leave Its Own Jail Federal agents showed up at the Monterey County Jail in Salinas for a targeted operation. County officials told them to leave. When the agents refused, the sheriff locked the whole jail down instead of cooperating. According to KSBW, the agents were stationed behind the jail on Tuesday. An agent on camera called it a targeted operation involving people at the jail. A small crowd of Loudmouth Lupes showed up to yell at the agents to leave, and some of them were shouting profanities. The agents held their ground. The sheriff's response was to suspend new bookings, stop inmate releases and close public visitation. The sheriff says the office was not notified and cited SB 54, California's sanctuary law, which limits how much local law enforcement can work with ICE. In September, Monterey County supervisors adopted a policy that bars ICE from using county property as a staging area. It has exceptions for judicial warrants and criminal enforcement. So a county would rather shut down its own jail than let federal immigration agents do their jobs on its grounds. Who does that protect? Should counties that lock down jails to block ICE lose their federal funding?