Last week, at Los Cien’s State of the Latino Community Address, Óscar announced the release of Sonoma County’s Immigrant Workforce: Economic Contributions and the Risks of Immigration Enforcement.
The findings make it clear that the well-being of immigrant families is closely tied to the health of our local businesses, our workforce, and our economy. The study explores the current conditions causing a strain on our immigrant neighbors and explores the risks that Sonoma County faces if there were large-scale enforcement here in our community.
Why we invested in this study
We invested in this study because we saw a need to broaden the conversation about immigration enforcement and help our community understand what's at stake.
The study was developed by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and co-funded by Sonoma Community Foundation, the Sonoma County Economic Development Collaborative, and the Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund. The Bay Area Council Economic Institute had already studied these questions at the state and regional level. Its June 2025 statewide study found that:
- More than one in four California residents (27%) are immigrants.
- An estimated 2.3 million undocumented residents make up about 8% of the state's workforce.
- Undocumented workers contribute more than $23 billion a year in taxes.
- Large-scale enforcement could reduce California's GDP by up to $278 billion.
The Institute's March 2026 Bay Area analysis estimated that increased enforcement could cost the nine-county region up to $67 billion in GDP and $8.4 billion in annual tax revenue.
Those numbers are significant, but Sonoma County needed its own picture. Our immigrant community, our industries, and our local needs are distinct, and our response should be grounded in local data.
What the report found
Sonoma County is home to approximately 79,000 immigrants, 26% of whom are undocumented. That's the highest undocumented share of any Bay Area county's immigrant population. Our immigrant workforce supports an estimated $6.4 billion in annual economic output.
The report examines the risks Sonoma County would face under large-scale immigration enforcement, and it underscores how essential immigrant workers are to our economy. Key findings include:
- Sonoma County’s key industries are highly exposed. Agriculture, administrative and waste management, and accommodation and food service jobs, some of Sonoma County's core industries, depend heavily on immigrant workers and would face serious disruption.
- Our county is underprepared. Sonoma County has the lowest immigration-court representation rate in the Bay Area.
- Our undocumented neighbors are deeply rooted here. Nearly three-quarters have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade.
- Mixed-status families face severe economic consequences. The report includes stories of children and teenagers taking on rent when the adults in their household lose work.
Bringing people together
Alongside our partners, we convened leaders from business, healthcare, legal services, philanthropy, and community organizations to help inform the research. Those conversations helped people coming from different perspectives recognize shared concerns and begin to consider what we can do together.
This is the kind of leadership we committed to in our strategic plan: using our relationships and our ability to convene alongside our grantmaking.
Putting the findings to work
This report gives our whole community a shared, local picture of what's at stake. For our work, it gives us a common starting point on conversations about the need to invest in our immigrant community's wellbeing and future in Sonoma County.
The findings also line up with what we heard from the community when we set the Fund for Belonging's priorities. Through more than 150 conversations with local nonprofits, community leaders, and immigration funders, we identified the most urgent needs facing immigrants in Sonoma County. In 2026, the Fund is investing more than $1 million.
A commitment to local data
Sonoma Community Foundation has a long history of investing in community data, including the Portrait of Sonoma and Agenda for Action. We believe real, local knowledge, shaped by the people most affected by the issues, is essential to making good decisions as a community.
