ICE Detains Special Needs Student, U.S. Citizen Near Santa Maria High School

A Santa Maria High School student with special needs was detained by federal immigration enforcement less than a half mile from the school campus on Thursday morning. The student, who was described as non-verbal, was on his way to school when he was apprehended for matching the description of another person. Witnesses at the scene said he was aggressively tackled, restrained, and questioned before being left with multiple injuries, including a broken wrist.

Volunteers with the 805 Rapid Response Network have been on the ground every morning in Santa Barbara County, documenting verified ICE activity and alerting the community through the 24/7 hotline. The Rapid Response team reported the incident immediately and confirmed the details with eyewitnesses and Santa Maria Joint Union High School District staff. Nearby security camera footage also confirmed ICE was involved in the incident.

When ICE officers left the student on the street, he made his way to the campus, and school staff arranged for an ambulance to provide medical attention. School administration said the student’s injuries included lacerations, bruising, and a wrist that required surgery.

In a statement posted to social media, representatives from the Rapid Response Network said the student was one of several community members stopped and questioned by ICE that same morning “without probable cause other than their skin color.”

“No person, regardless of their place of origin, should be beaten and left without medical care,” the group wrote.

District Superintendent Antonio Garcia sent out a message to students and their families, in which he said the Santa Maria Police Department was also called and has passed along information about the incident to the District Attorney, the California Attorney General, and ICE’s regional office in Los Angeles.

“I want to reassure you that the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District is committed to maintaining safe, protected, and welcoming spaces for all students, families, and staff,” Garcia said.

An ICE spokesperson addressed the incident in a statement provided to the Los Angeles Times, which confirmed that the agency was conducting a “targeted enforcement operation” in Santa Maria on October 21 when officers “encountered an individual they believed matched the description” of their target.

The ICE spokesperson said that when the student “resisted officers, refused lawful commands, and assumed a fighting stance with clenched fists, they relied on their training to safely control the situation until they could confirm his identity, whereupon he was released.” According to ICE, the 20-year-old special needs student “never requested medical assistance.”

Santa Maria Councilmember Gloria Soto, who has been outspoken in her criticism of ICE enforcement in the city, called the recent incident “unacceptable.” She asked Mayor Alice Patino to call a special council meeting to address the community’s concerns and questioned the explanation provided by ICE’s unidentified spokesperson.

“ICE’s own statement admits agents stopped the wrong person,” Sotos said. “A student walking to school ended up in surgery, and saying he ‘never requested medical assistance’ doesn’t change the fact that he was hurt. Reports state he had his ID on him the whole time and was never asked for it. This kind of brutality is not okay. There needs to be an independent investigation into how a case of mistaken identity ended with a student hurt this badly.”

Soto noted that the incident is just the latest in what has been two years of increasingly aggressive enforcement operations on the Central Coast. More recently, Rapid Response volunteers reported a surge in ICE enforcement believed to be part of a statewide initiative known as “Operation Safe California,” with more than 175 community members being arrested in the span of two weeks, according to 805 UndocuFund.

Notably, Santa Maria has been one of the hardest hit communities. ICE activity has been reported almost every day this month, including at the North County Branch Jail, workplaces, and near schools. On October 5, the father of a student at Allan Hancock College was arrested while dropping his daughter off in the campus parking lot.

In response to the incident, a coalition of immigrant rights groups and nonprofits such as 805UndocuFund, CAUSE, Future Leaders of America, The Fund for Santa Barbara, MICOP, and Santa Maria Indivisible are asking local leaders to increase pressure for an independent investigation of the incident and full accountability for officers involved.

The groups are also calling on city officials to disclose any coordination with ICE to ensure that no city resources, funds, or facilities are being used to assist in further federal enforcement operations .

On Saturday, October 24, 805 Undocufund will be holding a rally in Santa Maria starting at 5 p.m. on South McClelland Avenue. 

“We call on the community to stand alongside us as we keep on calling for the protection of your immigrant community!” the group wrote in a post announcing the rally. “Show up for each other — our communities are under attack and we will not back up, we will keep showing up everyday!”