While much of the U.S. government remains shut down, federal immigration enforcement operations continue to sweep through Latino neighborhoods on the Central Coast, with the 805 Immigrant Coalition’s Rapid Response Hotline reporting multiple arrests in the past week, and at least 900 combined arrests in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties since January.
Border security, immigration enforcement, and deportation proceedings are among the few parts of the federal government to continue operating through the shutdown, and squads of masked agents in unmarked cars have continued to conduct daily arrests, typically transporting detainees to the ICE processing facility at Cortez Circle in Camarillo.
The 805 Rapid Response Hotline fields hundreds of calls and text messages each month reporting potential ICE and Border Control enforcement on the Central Coast. Hotline volunteers and legal observers will follow up on reported arrests, working to differentiate between local law enforcement and federal immigration, and connecting with any family members to provide legal and financial assistance.
In the early weeks of October, 805 Immigrant Coalition volunteers reported ICE arrests at the Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail and Santa Barbara County Superior Court locations in Santa Maria.
Early in the morning on October 22, hotline legal observers reported at least two arrests in Carpinteria. On October 26, a man was arrested in the Westside neighborhood of Santa Barbara and was hospitalized at St. John’s Hospital in Camarillo for several days following the arrest. According to family members, the man’s children were denied any updates until he was transferred from the hospital to a detention facility in Los Angeles.
October 28 was the busiest day in recent memory for the Rapid Response Hotline, with at least five arrests focused in Santa Barbara’s Westside and Eastside neighborhoods. One arrest was reported near Super Cucas on Micheltorena Street, while unmarked ICE vehicles were seen making stops on San Andres Street and in multiple areas in the Eastside, where ICE officers reportedly smashed a car window and arrested one person, leaving their vehicle stranded on the side of the road.
Rapid Response Hotline volunteers are able to verify ICE arrests by keeping a list of more than a dozen “known ICE vehicles” that have been involved in previous federal immigration operations in the region. Observers at the ICE processing facility in Camarillo take daily reports of which unmarked vehicles are seen leaving and entering the facility. Since January, the Rapid Response Hotline has confirmed at least 900 arrests on the Central Coast, with an estimated 260 people detained in Santa Barbara County.
Federal officials from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE do not release official statistics on arrests in Santa Barbara County. DHS and federal officials have ignored formal information requests from Congressmember Salud Carbajal and the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors; and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed with ICE have yielded automated responses saying ICE “will not be able to return emails or telephone calls until the conclusion of the funding hiatus.”
Legal representatives with the Immigrant Legal Defense Center (ILDC) have noted that ICE’s detainee locator has also been out of service during the government shutdown — leaving family members unable to locate their loved ones or set up legal resources.
ILDC represents more than 500 people currently facing deportation, half of whom are children. Of the nearly 7,500 currently facing deportation on the Central Coast, it’s estimated that 70 percent have no criminal conviction on their records, according to TRAC Immigration data.
The 805 Undocufund — the lead organization of the 805 Immigrant Coalition — continues to host volunteer training sessions across Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties. On Thursday, November 6, the organization will host a presentation featuring volunteers who have visited ICE detention facilities in California.
