Community leaders gathered outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Santa Maria on Friday to bring attention to a spate of recent ICE detentions across the Central Coast.
Santa Maria City Councilmember Gloria Soto told the crowd that since last Saturday, Dec. 27, community organizations, such as 805 UndocuFund, have documented nearly 150 ICE detentions in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Soto said that at least 87 people were apprehended in Santa Maria, calling it the “epicenter of what they’re seeing over the holiday break.”
Immigrant rights groups also reported increased enforcement action in northern San Luis Obispo County in more recent days, with nearly 20 people in Paso Robles and San Miguel taken into custody on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
KSBY News has reached out to ICE representatives but has not been able to independently verify the number of detentions reported.
Soto added that increased ICE activity has also been seen in other parts of California and the country, saying, “The scale, speed and geographic expansion we are seeing is coordinated regional activity and not isolated incidences, and behind every number is a person.”
Cesar Vasquez, 805 Undocufund Rapid Response organizer, told the crowd that he has seen some of these incidents turn violent and that some U.S. citizens have been detained and questioned because of their race.
California Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limòn, who represents District 21, covering Santa Barbara County and parts of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, was also among the speakers.
“In order to have a community that feels safe, we cannot live in terror, and right now our community is living in terror,” she said. “Whether you see it or hear it, it has to be acknowledged that it’s something that is happening and we are here in solidarity to say enough is enough and that we want a safer community. We want a community where all people here are respected.”
Speakers called for increased public support and funding for legal defense and other resources for immigrant families, and they urged the Santa Maria City Council to take action in response to increased ICE enforcement.
ICE has not yet responded to our request for comment.
