“The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens. Not illegal aliens,” said President Donald J. Trump in his Feb. 25 State of the Union address to Congress. Immigration has been a key issue for the Trump administration, and one locals are feeling the effects of: the Santa Barbara News-Press reports over 1,500 people were detained in Santa Barbara and nearby areas in 2025.
After a Santa Barbara High School (SBHS) HOLD on Feb. 20 due to a nearby ICE incident, concerns have been raised regarding local police’s involvement in immigration enforcement. On Feb. 20, ICE agents pepper-sprayed and knocked down an 80-year-old attorney.
In a statement released the following day, the Santa Barbara Police Department (SBPD) said they were informed that, “there were ICE agents in the 100 block of E Carrillo St and local community members were filming their activists.” This came at 12:52 a.m., and the chaotic scene on Carrillo unfolded minutes later. This was the first notification received by SBPD, and they did not respond to the location. ICE arrested a suspect for the vandalism of one of their vehicles, whose tires he reportedly slashed. Immigration officers chose to drive their detainees and disabled vehicles to SBPD at around 11 a.m. without prior notification. Local police officers were present and “provided for public safety by creating a safe place for community members to exercise their First Amendment Rights, without interfering with the ICE agents, while agents transferred the arrestee from the disabled vehicle to another ICE vehicle,” the SBPD statement further explained.
At a recent Carpinteria immigration incident, on Jan. 28, SBPD was called after an altercation between ICE and community members. They made no arrests, and solely worked on medical aid coordination, information gathering, and traffic management. California law does not require SBPD to check immigration status on traffic stops or report-taking, and is irrelevant to normal police business, according to a statement on the SBPD website.
On Oct. 14, 2025, County Sheriff Bill Brown informed the supervisors he would not be providing updates on immigration activity. Since then, he has written opinion articles on his thoughts on the duality of the issue. “Voices are silenced. Racism is being disguised as patriotism. You cannot claim to love your country while hating the people who make it what it is. If we allow this to continue, we are no better than the man who currently resides in office, who signs away our rights with a stroke of a pen,” said Alexa Zarate, SBHS MEChA President at a recent protest.
Local organizations such as 805 Immigration Coalition and 805 UndocuFund encourage residents to report any ICE or Border Patrol activity by calling or texting (805) 870-8855 so they can spread the word across their rapid response network.
