Riverside County deputies will not perform “any type of immigration enforcement,” Sheriff Chad Bianco said, as fear among local immigrant communities has increased due to intensifying raids.

Bianco, who was first elected sheriff in 2018, can continue to lead Riverside County’s top law enforcement agency if he were to run for governor and lose. A 2022 state law that shifts sheriff’s elections to presidential election years tacked on another two years to Bianco’s term, which now ends in 2028.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said deputies will not be making immigration-related arrests, making the announcement in an online video Thursday in which he also slams the state's sanctuary state law.

Riverside County deputies "have not, are not, and will not engage in any type of immigration enforcement," Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a message to the community.