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Sonoma County is treating potential federal immigration operations like a mass emergency — preparing the same way it would for a wildfire or flood.

Even if Sonoma County learns an immigration enforcement action may be coming, officials say they can’t warn the public in advance because that could interfere with the operation. But the second ICE is on the ground, the county will shift into response mode, preparing for the fallout.

The plan, called the “local immigration enforcement impact concept of operations,” or ConOps, is in draft stage through the Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management.

Director Jeff DuVall says the department took this on because the impact of ICE raids could be very big.

“It is an emergency,” he said. “It is an emergency for our community. It is emergency for the county government if something like this does happen.”

DuVall said the county watched what happened in Los Angeles and Ventura this past summer and wants to be ready if something like that happens here.

The plan would be triggered by a verified presence of ICE in the county. “Where we start is at zero at time of enforcement action,” DuVall said.

Once the county decides the ICE presence is of enough impact, the department would notify the public, sending out alerts in the same way it would about any other mass emergency.

DuVall said the department has been working with community organizations to direct the public to resources in the event of family separation, unaccompanied minors, or housing instability due to loss of income and “the cascading effects that we have seen in other counties throughout the state of California who have had federal immigration enforcement actions within their counties.”

He said the plan should be ready by mid-April. It’s up to county administrators to decide whether it will be made public or not.