Santa Barbara County updated its legislative policy, adding in language to support immigrant families and call for more transparency with federal immigration enforcement in response to the recent wave of aggressive deportation operations on the Central Coast.
The County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 (with Supervisor Bob Nelson abstaining from the vote) to add in language that allows the county to officially advocate for comprehensive federal immigration reform policies that “improve and simplify” the current system and allow for greater coordination between federal, state, and local agencies.
Board Chair Laura Capps led the push for the updated legislative platform, which also cements the county’s support for policies that require all federal and local law enforcement officers to “clearly identify themselves and their agency affiliation during public operations.”
Additional language calls for the county to “uphold constitutional civil rights protections” with regard to due-process freedom from unlawful search and seizure, and for the county legislative committee to urge the federal government to reinstate policies that prevent immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies have conducted operations in public areas and workplaces throughout the Central Coast since the Trump administration launched its mass deportation initiative, with the 805 Immigrant Coalition’s Rapid Response Hotline reporting significantly more than 600 confirmed arrests in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties since January.
On July 15, community leaders, immigrant rights advocates, and concerned members of the public packed the County Administration building to call on the Board of Supervisors to stand with the county’s immigrant population. In response, the board allocated an additional $340,000 toward immigrant support services, the county filed a Freedom of Information Act Request demanding details on local ICE arrests, and the County Executive Office worked to update the legislative platform.
“Respect for constitutional rights is not optional — it’s foundational to a just and democratic society,” Capps said. “Every person, regardless of immigration status, deserves due process, equal protection under the law, and freedom from unlawful searches, seizures, and discriminatory enforcement.”
Indivisible S.B. organizer and 805 Immigrant Coalition volunteer Larry Behrendt spoke during public comment, telling the board that he’s seen ICE operate “in the manner of secret police,” patrolling the streets in unmarked vehicles, often with heavily tinted windows, with officers wearing masks without any obvious means of identification.
“Their lack of transparency is part of their plan to terrorize our community into submission and self-deportation,” Behrendt said.
Behrendt noted that the county had yet to receive any information from the federal government — County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato confirmed there had been no response to the county’s requests for information and for an ICE official to appear before the board — and he suggested the supervisors turn to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office for any additional information.
Supervisor Joan Hartmann and Board Chair Capps supported the idea and directed that staff request the Sheriff’s Office provide retroactive information regarding “deconfliction notices” that ICE sends local law enforcement agencies to alert them of federal operations. Supervisor Hartmann said that a regular report from the Sheriff’s Office would at least give the public an idea of the breadth of federal operations in Santa Barbara.
All members of the board supported the updates to the legislative platform. Supervisor Nelson, who abstained from the vote, explained that, while he “wholeheartedly” supported some of the changes, he chose not to vote due to a “certain amount of politicization” he felt was wrapped up in the language.
