U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested at least 5,000 people in the San Diego and Imperial County region last year, according to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project. The figure, representing roughly 20 arrests per day, is expected to rise significantly as data collection continues through mid-October 2025.
Although enforcement efforts in San Diego haven’t reached the intensity seen in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis, community groups report a consistent and pervasive impact on local immigrant communities. Volunteers with organizations like Union del Barrio and Detention Resistance are documenting ICE activity, providing support to those affected, and raising concerns about increasingly aggressive tactics.
Union del Barrio organizes daily patrols in San Diego County, responding to community requests for increased vigilance, particularly around schools during drop-off times and in neighborhoods perceived to be targets for enforcement. Volunteers also document ICE sightings and share videos of arrests on social media. “It’s been wild,” said Benjamin Prado, an organizer with Union del Barrio. “Granted, we haven’t seen the intensified type of roving patrols that are out in Los Angeles, Chicago or Minnesota. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not happening here.”
Recent ICE activity in the San Diego area has included workplace raids at an industrial paint shop in El Cajon and an Italian restaurant in South Park. However, the predominant pattern has been consistent, lower-profile arrests at locations including military bases, schools, jails, and during green card interviews.
Organizations like Detention Resistance and FAITH (Faithful Accompaniment In Trust & Hope) have focused on documenting ICE enforcement at the downtown federal courthouse. In May, activists began posting videos of ICE agents arresting individuals in the hallway outside court hearings. This led to court officials posting signs prohibiting recording and restricting access for observers. “The general public doesn’t realize how sweeping this immigration enforcement has been,” said Rev. Paige Blair-Hubert, a volunteer with FAITH.
Volunteers involved in these efforts describe experiencing stress, intimidation, and emotional strain, particularly witnessing arrests that separate families. Rev. Kathleen Owens, a volunteer with FAITH, recounted witnessing a courthouse arrest last year, saying, “It lives with me, that baby crying as dad was pushing the baby down the hall and the woman crying as she was led away (by ICE agents). How do you do that to a family?”
Concerns about the tone and direction of immigration enforcement have been heightened by recent rhetoric from the White House. Following the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described them as “domestic terrorists,” according to reports. Noem visited San Diego earlier this week to tout the Trump administration’s border record, facing protests during a news conference, according to CalMatters.
Rommel Diaz, an organizer with Union del Barrio, expressed fears that the White House’s rhetoric signals a broader crackdown on dissent. Diaz, who fled Chile more than 40 years ago during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, warned that authoritarian regimes often criminalize opposition groups. “They are criminalizing immigrants and then use that criminalization to justify repression,” he said.
Trump is reportedly recruiting thousands of local law enforcement officers to aid in immigration enforcement, though some states are refusing to participate, according to fox5sandiego.com. The administration’s efforts come as polls indicate declining support for Trump’s immigration policies, capradio.org reported.
