On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed executive orders that shifted the focus of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) toward enforcing immigration laws. Despite this federal directive, local authorities in Stanislaus County say their cooperation with HSI is limited to fighting other crimes.
In 2024, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security—including HSI—entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU). This agreement provides office space and access to law enforcement databases for two HSI agents as part of a joint task force targeting human, weapons, and narcotics trafficking in the county.
Sheriff Jeff Dirkse emphasized that HSI does not conduct immigration enforcement through its partnership with local authorities. “They don’t do immigration enforcement associated with us, period,” Dirkse told The Bee in July. According to a report from the Sheriff’s Office, 209 arrests were made by the task force in 2024, none related to immigration violations.
California’s Values Act (SB54) sets boundaries for such agreements. It allows local law enforcement to work with federal agencies if immigration enforcement is not the main goal. The law also bars federal agencies from using local resources for immigration purposes.
HSI operates under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but historically has not enforced immigration laws; those duties belong to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations branch. All these entities are part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Around the time Stanislaus County entered its agreement with HSI, there was a broader push within HSI to distinguish itself from ICE’s role in immigration matters. In 2024, The Washington Post reported on cities declining MOUs or removing themselves from joint investigations because they saw little distinction between HSI and ICE. As a result, HSI updated its branding and communication efforts.
However, media reports have highlighted internal challenges following Trump administration directives reassigning agents from narcotics cases to immigration enforcement roles, which led some officials within DHS to leave their posts amid concerns about retaliation.
Some legal experts question whether language in the MOU—or new federal directives—could eventually allow HSI agents access to resources for immigration enforcement locally. Gabriel Chin, professor at UC Davis School of Law, noted that nothing in the MOU specifically prohibits such actions: “It’s a question of how the agencies involved want to let it play out,” Chin said. He added that he has never seen an MOU like this lead directly to immigration enforcement.
Other California police departments have similar agreements with more explicit limitations; Redding Police Department’s 2020 MOU with HSI states participating officers cannot enforce immigration laws. By contrast, Stanislaus County’s agreement does not mention immigration at all.
Jehan Laner, senior staff attorney at Immigrant Legal Resource Center, pointed out that vague language could allow for indirect involvement in immigration matters without local knowledge. She referenced cases where investigations into other crimes led incidentally to collateral arrests involving people without legal status.
Despite these concerns, both local authorities and HSI maintain that their collaboration does not involve or enable federal immigration operations. “HSI doesn’t put us in the position to violate state law. HSI wants to be good partners; they know the laws we work under,” Dirkse said. He also stated that all agreements had been reviewed by attorneys.
The Sheriff’s Office retains authority over use of its resources; if HSI began using them for prohibited purposes like immigration enforcement, it could terminate their access immediately—a point confirmed by both sides.
A spokesperson for HSI San Francisco said their agreement with Stanislaus County does not involve any type of immigration enforcement: if it did so “it would violate the Values Act” and render the MOU “null and void.”
Dirkse expressed concern about public perception if deputies were present during federal operations targeting immigrants: “The public appearance would be that the Sheriff’s Office or (the Modesto Police Department) is now assisting ICE, and that is not the case,” he said. “We are not assisting them related with anything immigration enforcement. That is my concern coming out of all of this.”
