Central Coast Leaders Speak Out after 150 Arrested in Immigration Sweeps

During the last week of 2025, Santa Barbara County and the City of Santa Maria became the epicenter of federal immigration sweeps in California, with nearly 150 people arrested over a four-day period from December 27-30, according to data collected by the 805 Immigrant Rapid Response Network.

The sudden increase in federal immigration enforcement — which was carried out by groups of masked agents in unmarked vehicles — resulted in community members being arrested outside their homes, pulled out of their vehicles on public streets, or apprehended in other public areas such as parking lots and alleyways.

Witnesses and legal observers with community defense groups such as 805 UndocuFund, SBResiste, and Carp Sin Fronteras were on the ground documenting the roving sweeps, and on Friday, January 2, a group gathered outside the ICE processing facility in Santa Maria to call on local leaders to do more to protect community members from what immigrant rights advocates are calling “indiscriminate” enforcement tactics in the region.

Santa Maria Councilmember Gloria Soto was among the dozens who gathered in the parking lot outside the ICE facility, following a week of what she says was “unimaginable” trauma for the community.

“Families are being torn apart at a time that should be centered on togetherness,” Councilmember Soto said. “These actions create fear, instability, and lasting harm in our community. Our immigrant neighbors and families are essential to Santa Maria and deserve dignity, transparency, and due process.”

Councilmember Soto said the recent wave of federal immigration enforcement was destabilizing entire neighborhoods and cities in Santa Barbara County, especially Santa Maria and Lompoc, which were hit the hardest over the four days.

She credited the community watchdogs and volunteers working to document the incidents for the public. Soto asked the community to support the nonprofit organizations that are struggling to keep up with the increase in federal funding for immigration operations.

“The response from organizations on the ground is not lacking — it’s extraordinary,” Soto said. “Rapid Response Networks, legal advocates, and community leaders have stepped up, often with limited resources, to meet the overwhelming need.

Soto said she is currently working to create a council subcommittee to address concerns over federal immigration enforcement, though that plan has been postponed until at least February of this year. She vowed to continue to work to protect Santa Maria residents who are living in fear, and called on her colleagues to also show their support.

“What families are experiencing right now cannot wait for silence or delay,” Soto said. “Silence, especially from those trusted with leadership, is not neutral. Silence allows harm to be normalized.”

California Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón was also in attendance at the gathering outside the ICE facility on January 2. Limón, who was born and raised in Santa Barbara, said the impact of the federal immigration sweeps goes far beyond the number of community members arrested or deported.

“They are our relatives. They are our schoolmates, our colleagues,” Senator Limón said. “They are people who are part of our community. We cannot let their humanity be lost in what is happening … We all have a role to keep our communities safe. We can’t let what’s happening be something that we normalize. We cannot live in terror.”

Eder Gaona-Macedo, executive director of the Fund for Santa Barbara and co-founder of 805 UndocuFund, said the recent activity was a “nightmare” for community members.

“The anxiety, fear, it has all been paralyzing,” Gaona-Macedo said. “This is happening here in our own backyard, in Santa Maria, in the County of Santa Barbara — one of the wealthiest counties in our nation.”

He said he hoped that the community and local leadership could look at the recent escalation in immigration sweeps as a moment to step up and protect vulnerable residents.

“This is no longer about politics. This is no longer about red or blue,” he said. “This is about who we want to be as a community. This is about what world we want to give our children. Do we want to stay silent and see families violently torn apart? Or do we want to help our neighbors? I choose the latter.”

Representatives from 805 UndocuFund spoke about the arrests they witnessed during the final week of the year. Cesar Vasquez, a 17-year-old Rapid Response Network organizer who has been on the ground documenting federal immigration activity every day for the past several months, said he saw firsthand some of the aggressive tactics used by ICE and DHS agents. During one incident outside Santa Maria in November, Vasquez said he was hit with a flash bang thrown by federal agents.

“I’ve seen U.S. citizens detained, pulled over, and questioned just because they are Brown,” Vasquez said. “We have had multiple community members beat, kicked, and tased by the very same ICE agents that are in that building.”

Firsthand accounts and videos posted to social media revealed federal immigration enforcement disobeying traffic laws, refusing to identify themselves, and threatening to arrest legal volunteers who were attempting to document the events. According to one legal observer, local law enforcement with California Highway Patrol stopped at least three vehicles that were reportedly working to document ICE activity. In one video, masked agents were seen making an arrest outside the Santa Barbara County Jail.

Maria Salguero, a senior attorney with the Immigrant Legal Defense Center, said it’s been difficult to provide legal representation to those that have been arrested. At times, legal representatives have been denied entrance to speak to clients being held at the regional ICE facilities, she said.

Volunteer groups from across the Central Coast have continued to grow their numbers through community defense training sessions and public outreach. But as the organizations have become more effective in their reporting and messaging, federal agencies have adjusted to make arrests during hours when volunteers are less likely to be patrolling the streets.

Lee Heller, a volunteer with SBResiste, said it can be a challenge to try and keep up with federal immigration enforcement. “The cost of living in Santa Barbara means people have to work when they want to be out in the community,” she said. “Meanwhile, ICE’s flouting of laws around safe driving, identification, warrants, and due process challenge our ability to prevent kidnappings, inform the community, and document their actions safely.”

ICE and DHS did not provide any details regarding the arrests made during the last week of December 2025. The federal government estimates that about 600,000 people were arrested and deported in 2025, and the Trump administration has promised that deportations will not slow down in 2026.

Heller says this increase in immigration enforcement has contributed to a culture of fear that could impact the entire local economy in the long run.

“People — not just undocumented residents, but also those with green cards — are living in fear, afraid to go to doctor’s appointments, send their kids to school, go to work, even go for a walk,” she said. “Delayed medical treatment means sicker patients; students who stay home lose out on learning; lost income means evictions; and everyone affected is living with the terror being grabbed and disappeared in a system where there are no due process protections, where they may not be able to contact family, and may end up anywhere in the world. And it’s not just immigrants who are affected; local businesses are seeing fewer customers, which has an economic impact on the entire community.”

On January 12 at UCSB, there will be a volunteer training hosted by 805 UndocuFund, Associated Students of UCSB, and SBResiste. Click here to sign up.