More Than 2,050 Immigration-Related Arrests on Central Coast Since January 2025

An updated report on immigration-related arrests on the Central Coast by 805 UndocuFund’s Rapid Response Network reveals a consistent presence of federal enforcement activity despite the government’s shift to a more discreet approach in recent months.

According to the data collected through immigrant rights organizations, the rapid response hotline, and community patrols, there were at least 2,050 people detained by federal immigration enforcement in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties since the beginning of the second Trump administration in January 2025. Over the past six months, specifically, there have been more than 580 detentions, representing a nearly six-fold increase compared to the same time period last year.

In Santa Barbara County, there were nearly 850 arrests reported since January of last year. According to 805 UnducuFund, the highest concentration of arrests was in the City of Santa Maria, with 531 arrests, followed by Lompoc with at least 168 arrests, and Santa Barbara with more than 103. There were 25 arrests reported in Carpinteria and 10 reported in Goleta. These figures were verified by firsthand witness accounts and information provided by families of those who have been detained.

Immigrant rights advocates noted a shift away from the attention-grabbing workplace raids conducted by ICE and DHS during early 2025 to a new approach with higher numbers of arrests that occur outside the view of the public in spaces like county jails and immigration check-in appointments.

Primitiva Hernandez, 805 UnducuFund’s executive director, said the number of arrests represents a surge of “hidden violence” witnessed through the Rapid Response Hotline over recent months. She said she hopes the data reminds the community about the importance of protecting their immigrant neighbors, as public outrage and media focus has shifted from coverage of masked ICE agents in the streets to the more recent protests outside detention centers.

“We are seeing people taken from their homes and communities once again,” Hernandez said. “While media attention has rightly focused on the protests happening at detention centers due to their inhumane conditions, we must remind the public that every person taken from our tri-county region ends up in those same facilities. The violence happening in our streets is directly feeding the crisis of maltreatment and death occurring behind closed doors in detention centers.” 

The federal government has also changed the way it publicly represents its immigration enforcement, as new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin — who took over after the previous secretary Kristi Noem was fired in late March — explained during an interview with a local news station in May.

“My goal is that ICE and the DHS, we’re not in the news cycle anymore,” Mullin said.

Meanwhile, on May 29, the Trump administration launched a new page on the official White House website, whitehouse.gov/aliens, which at first look seems like an extraterrestrial-themed webpage, before the scrolling text reveals language portraying immigrants as “aliens” who “walk among us.”

The website refers to immigrants as “invaders” who “arrived under the cover of darkness and embedded themselves directly into our society.”

When the site was originally launched, it also included language that immigrant rights activists called out as derogatory and dehumanizing: “If you witnessed an alien abduction, do not be alarmed,” the site read, in text that has since been deleted. “The alien is in good hands. We will take care of it … and return it safely to its place of origin.”

The website includes what is referred to as a “live encounter map,” with red dots revealing the number of immigration-related arrests in different cities across the country. The arrest numbers were inconsistent upon launch, with different figures reported for the cities of Santa Barbara and Lompoc on the date of the website launch compared to three days later on June 1. 

Notably, the number of arrests in Santa Barbara from January 2025 through April 2026 was originally listed at 132, then edited to a lower figure of 82 three days later (805 UndocuFund reported 103 arrests in the city during the same period).

Representatives from 805 UndocuFund released a statement asking the community to “not look away” as the government shifts its enforcement tactics. The statement warned the public not to become “desensitized” to the impacts on undocumented community members.

“We cannot normalize this violence,” the statement read. “It is happening right in our neighborhoods, and looking away makes us complicit in it. … We are in a critical moment. The data shows a system in overdrive. We must match that intensity with our compassion, our resources, and our refusal to look away.”

To provide support and resources to affected families and individuals, 805 UndocuFund has been working at full capacity, with more than $1 million distributed through the Emergency Assistance Fund, $414,000 of which has been distributed since the beginning of this year alone.

It has partnered with local organizations to host know-your-rights seminars, community defense training sessions, and fundraisers across the Central Coast. On Sunday, June 7, 805 UndocuFund, SBResiste, and several UC Santa Barbara groups will host an “Art for Justice” fundraiser at Topa Topa Brewing Company from noon to 5 p.m., complete with an exhibition and live music from Oxnard-based band La Voz Norteña.

Artwork by artists such as DJ Javier, Daniel Linz, and Wallace Piatt will be available through a silent auction, with 100 percent of proceeds going to 805 UndocuFund and SBResiste. These funds will go directly to impacted families and to support rapid response efforts throughout the region.

“This fundraiser represents the power of art and community coming together to support families directly impacted by detention, deportation, and disaster,” Hernandez said.