Napa responds to grand jury report on ICE-related concerns in the community
Napa city officials approved an official response to the Napa County civil grand jury report "Fear of ICE in the Valley?," stressing in-person engagement to alleviate community fears.
The civil grand jury report, published April 13, found that Napa Police and county sheriff's officials have consistently maintained that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, not a local one, while effectively spreading the word about their policies and reducing misinformation about purported ICE sweeps. During its June 2 meeting, the Napa City Council approved a written response to the report.
Approval of the response was separated from the council's consent calendar - a list of routine items that the council approves together with a single vote - at the request of a resident who, during public comment, noted a series of previous meetings in which others advocated for Napa to enact sanctuary city policies.
During a brief discussion before the council's approval, City Manager Steve Potter clarified that the agenda item was not for a new policy or statement. Instead, it represented the council signing off on a response to the civil grand jury report crafted by Police Chief Fabio Rodriguez and other city staff, which the grand jury itself requested.
"The grand jury report is accurate and timely," Mayor Scott Sedgley said.
Specifically, the civil grand jury requested that Rodriguez respond to one finding and one recommendation made in its report.
The first finding noted that the civil grand jury found that law enforcement agencies throughout the county "have worked well with the community to explain that they do not enforce immigration law," since it is a federal, not local, effort. Despite this, the civil grand jury noted that fears persist in the community and encouraged local agencies to "expand the use of social and broadcast media, particularly in Spanish."
In its response, Napa partially agreed with findings that immigration-related fears persist in the community and acknowledged that Napa Police can continue expanding Spanish-language outreach through social and broadcast media.
"While social media can quickly share information, the most effective way to build trust and reduce fear in the community remains direct, in-person engagement," the response added.
According to the city, police staff regularly connect with community members through service calls, public events, church and nonprofit meetings, civic organizations and City Council meetings, conducting outreach in both English and Spanish. While officials said social media can quickly disseminate information to large audiences, they cautioned that online discussions can sometimes distort messages and foster divisive or misleading commentary, underscoring the importance of face-to-face communication in community engagement.
The civil grand jury report recommended that Napa Police continue "to deepen community collaborations" and encourage its public information staff to "expand the use of social media and broadcast media."
In its official response, the city noted that, beginning July 1, its police department "will share at least one social media post, in English and Spanish, reiterating the department's role in immigration enforcement that it is not a function of local law enforcement."
Before moving to approve the response to the civil grand jury report, Councilmember Bernie Narvaez said that one of the biggest challenges in this realm is city and county officials "competing with information outside of our jurisdiction."
"That creates a lot of fear," he continued. "Our local leaders - from the sheriff's department to the police department - really work together to get the right information out when a rumor is out and about in the community."
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