- Emily Wong | Staff
- Aug 7, 2025 (Oaklandside.com)
Berkeley is one of 18 on a federal list of sanctuary cities targeted by President Donald Trump’s administration.
An initial list, released May 29, listed more than 500 “sanctuary jurisdictions” which the Trump administration alleged hindered immigration enforcement, according to AP News. The new list, released Tuesday, narrows that number to 18, including three cities and two counties in California.
A U.S. Department of Justice press release said it has filed lawsuits against sanctuary jurisdictions in past months “to compel compliance with federal law.”
Berkeley’s Sanctuary City Task Force has been working to protect the city’s immigrant community through “information sharing” and “coordinated responses,” said Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii in a statement. Berkeley has also taken legal action by joining a coalition of cities suing the federal government over threats to withdraw funding from sanctuary cities, according to Ishii.
“It’s no surprise that we are still on the list. Berkeley continues to take pride in our status as a sanctuary city and we won’t be bullied into abandoning our values,” Ishii said in the statement. “It is, in fact, the federal government that is causing harm and trauma in our communities, not cities such as ours.”
The Berkeley City Council reaffirmed Berkeley’s status as a sanctuary city earlier in January. This decision came amidst the Trump administration’s threats of mass deportations and plans to rescind restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, arrests, according to the council’s Jan. 21 resolution.
Under Berkeley’s Sanctuary City Policy, city staff and agencies may not use public resources to assist with federal immigration enforcement “unless legally required to do so,” according to a letter from Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board executive director DéSeana Williams. This policy also ensures that a tenant or resident’s immigration status does not diminish their ability to access city services.
Additionally, city staff are “prohibited” from sharing an individual’s immigration status with ICE unless mandated by federal law, while city employees are instructed to not cooperate with ICE officials “unless presented with a valid judicial warrant and after legal review.”
Ishii added that the council intends to “put forward an ordinance” soon to codify its sanctuary status.
“We are not backing down,” Ishii said in the statement. “Berkeley is committed to remaining a safe space for all who live, work, and visit here.”
