More than 620 Arrests Reported in Immigration Operations on Central Coast

More than 620 individuals have been arrested in federal immigration operations on the Central Coast since mid-January, according to the latest figures provided by the 805 Immigrant Coalition, a nonprofit group that runs the 24/7 Immigrant Rapid Response Hotline to monitor ICE and other federal agencies carrying out deportations in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties.

The number includes confirmed arrests in all three counties and the 300-plus workers who were swept up in the coordinated raids of two Glass House Farms cannabis facilities in Camarillo and Carpinteria on July 10. Rapid Response Hotline co-organizer Beatriz Basurto released the latest arrest numbers this week, though she explained that the figure represents only the arrests that were recorded through the hotline from January 14 through July 23, and there are likely far more individuals who have been detained or deported without any public report.

“The arrest figures are a minimum, since there’s families that never reported somebody’s been missing, or workers who were taken and had nobody else to call,” Basurto said.

The Rapid Response Hotline has documented at least 111 arrests in Santa Barbara County through July 23, including the 10 workers taken during the raid in Carpinteria. The most recent arrest in the City of Santa Barbara was reported Wednesday afternoon, with videos showing armed U.S. Marshals and ICE officers taking at least one man into custody near Mission and De la Vina streets.

Legal observers with the 805 Immigrant Coalition confirmed that the U.S. Marshals and at least six other Department of Justice agencies have been assisting with ICE’s enforcement and removal operations. The Independent has also confirmed through photo and video evidence that the Department of Homeland Security’s Investigations Division, Border Patrol, FBI, National Guard, and Drug Enforcement Agency have all been seen assisting in federal immigration operations.

The majority of arrests in Santa Barbara County have taken place in Santa Maria, with the most recent activity being reported on the morning of July 24 at the Santa Maria Courthouse, where two ICE vehicles were seen taking at least one person into custody after leaving the building.

The highest concentration of arrests was reported in Ventura County, where at least 172 individuals have been taken in day-to-day immigration enforcement operations since January. With the addition of the minimum of 321 workers confirmed to be taken in the July 10 raid at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, according to advocates working directly with the families, the total number of arrests in Ventura County jumps to 493. Only 15 arrests were reported in San Luis Obispo County.

According to legal observers, many of these arrests included small teams of unmarked vehicles taking one or two individuals into custody. Often, advocates said, these arrests were of people with no criminal history, on their way to or from work. The raids at Glass House Farms were by far the largest single-day operation, accounting for more than half of the Central Coast arrests in the past six months.

The federal government and ICE have not provided any public figures representing the number of arrests in individual California counties, or the criminal history of the detainees. City officials from Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria, along with county officials and state representatives, have all spoken out about the lack of information coming from the federal level regarding immigration enforcement. Nonprofit groups such as 805 UndocuFund and the 805 Immigrant Coalition have emerged as the only source of credible data on arrests, and even these groups have struggled to stay on top of the aggressive increase in immigration operations.

Basurto works with a small staff of paid employees and a growing number of volunteer operators and legal observers who keep the Rapid Response Hotline running 24/7, looking into reports of ICE activity and sending out community alerts to more than 30,000 enlisted numbers on the Central Coast. Over the past 10 days, the hotline has fielded an average of 129 calls and 305 text messages a day, with the majority of calls coming from families trying to find their loved ones or community members reporting suspected ICE presence.

But the hotline is not able to confirm all arrests, including those that occur at ICE offices, immigration court check-ins, and outside county jails. “Those are unaccounted for,” Basurto said. “ICE will never share that, and who knows if they’re even keeping accurate numbers.”

The Independent obtained records from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office confirming that, as of July 5, ICE has submitted removal orders and requests for information for 63 undocumented individuals at the county jails. Of these, at least three were confirmed to have been re-arrested by ICE after being released. Seventeen more were served arrest warrants calling for them to be brought before the U.S. District Court without delay.

With the week of Fiesta events coming up, advocates like Basurto are urging caution for mixed-status families and individuals concerned about immigration enforcement. While Old Spanish Days organizers say they don’t expect ICE to show up during the celebration, immigrant rights advocates are telling community members to be prepared just in case, and 805 UndocuFund will have legal observers in the downtown area to document and alert the community of any ICE presence.

“We’re always telling the community that it’s fundamental to have a plan,” Basurto said. “ICE has shown up in public places before. It would not be beyond them to show up.”

The increased immigration enforcement in recent weeks has sparked a new wave of community support, and put the pressure on local governments to respond and stand with immigrants. City and county governments have now pledged support, and in some cases money, to help resources like 805 UndocuFund stay afloat.

“We’ve gone beyond the point of just asking for sympathy at this point,” Basurto said. “When a statement comes out and there’s no action behind it, the words can come out as empty. Now they’re putting their money where their mouth is. Having every city in our region do that, it sets a precedent for how you show up. We can always do more; it’s about setting that standard as a local government.”