On Monday, July 20, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau became the latest local target in an increasingly polarized debate over immigration.
Members of the Sanctuary Coalition staged a protest outside our office, chanting through bullhorns, displaying signs and ultimately lying across our entrance in a symbolic protest intended to associate the Sonoma County Farm Bureau with the deaths of individuals in federal immigration custody. Their demonstration was prompted by one simple fact: the Sonoma County Farm Bureau supports the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Immigration Collaboration Policy.
A protester, who declined to provide their name, participates in Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition’s “Die In” protesting the Sonoma County Farm Bureau’s support of Sonoma County Sheriff’s collaboration with ICE, at the Farm Bureau’s office in Santa Rosa on Monday, July 20, 2026. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
The Sonoma County Farm Bureau supports the Sheriff’s policy, and we make no apology for doing so. Not because we oppose immigrants. Not because we support indiscriminate immigration enforcement. And certainly not because we lack appreciation for the thousands of immigrant families who are indispensable to Sonoma County agriculture. We support it because a policy allowing limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities when individuals have been convicted of serious or violent felonies is reasonable, responsible and rooted in common sense.
Some activists would have the public believe there are only two acceptable positions: oppose any cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement under any circumstance or be labeled anti-immigrant. That is a false choice. It deliberately blurs important distinctions and reduces a complex public policy issue into an ideological litmus test.
The Sheriff’s policy is neither sweeping nor indiscriminate. It complies with California law while allowing limited cooperation in narrowly defined circumstances involving individuals convicted of serious or violent crimes. That distinction matters. On May 8, before Sonoma County’s annual Truth Act Forum, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau
submitted a letter to the Board of Supervisors expressing support for what we described as a balanced approach. We commended the county for investing $1.5 million to support immigrant-serving organizations and community resources during an extraordinarily difficult time. We recognized the tremendous contributions immigrant families make to our agricultural economy and acknowledged the importance of supporting them.
At the same time, we affirmed that maintaining cooperation with federal agencies when individuals have been convicted of serious or violent felonies serves the public interest in public safety. Those positions are not contradictory; they are complementary. Agriculture understands this perhaps better than anyone.
Kent Porter / The Press Democrat
At Bartholomew Estate Winery in Sonoma, workers harvested about 3/4 of a block of Sauvignon Blanc grapes Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. They will be used to make verjus. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Our farms and ranches depend upon immigrant workers. They cultivate vineyards, harvest crops, care for livestock, operate equipment and perform countless jobs that sustain one of Sonoma County’s largest industries. These are not strangers to us. They are trusted employees, neighbors, church members, Little League coaches and parents raising families alongside our own. Their contributions deserve recognition, gratitude and respect. But respect for immigrant families does not require abandoning common sense.
The concern has never been about immigration status. It is about protecting our communities from people who repeatedly demonstrate through serious criminal conduct that they pose a danger to others. When federal immigration law provides a lawful mechanism to remove non-citizens who have been convicted of serious or violent felonies, local government should not stand in the way.
What I find troubling is the growing unwillingness to acknowledge legitimate distinctions. Increasingly, measured positions are portrayed as moral failures. Efforts to balance competing interests are dismissed as betrayals. Complex issues are compressed into slogans, and anyone who refuses to embrace ideological absolutes is treated as an adversary.
The Sonoma County Farm Bureau has spent more than a century advocating for agriculture and the people who make it possible. That includes thousands of immigrant employees who have built careers, raised families, and strengthened Sonoma County’s agricultural economy. We will continue supporting policies that recognize their immense value. We will also continue supporting policies that prioritize public safety. Those principles are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they depend upon one another.
The easiest course would have been to remain silent. Instead, we chose to support a policy that recognizes both compassion and accountability because leadership sometimes requires defending sensible positions, even when they become politically unpopular. Monday’s protest will eventually fade from memory; however, the principles behind our position will not. The Sonoma County Farm Bureau will continue to advocate for policies grounded in reason rather than rhetoric, in facts rather than accusations, and in the belief that protecting immigrant communities and protecting public safety are complementary responsibilities, not competing values.
That is not a radical position. It is simply common sense.
Dayna Ghirardelli is the executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau.