U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reportedly swarmed the Central Coast over the weekend, with a local advocacy group saying they were removing people from their neighborhoods, workplaces and shopping malls without warning.
Immigration agents detained at least 92 people from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, according to data collected by local nonprofit 805 UndocuFund. 805 UndocuFund is a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting undocumented immigrants and their families. Increased ICE activity also appears to have continued into later this week.
“This is a direct attack on our community,” said Claudia Gonzalez, communications and media organizer at 805 UndocuFund, noting that ICE picks up most of its people in areas where immigrants live and work.
805 UndocuFund collects the data from rapid responders who witness arrests and from community members who call to report arrests of friends and family members, she said. The team then checked the numbers to ensure there were no duplicates of the same event in the data set.
On Saturday, ICE agents detained 34 people from Santa Maria and two from San Luis Obispo, according to data provided by the Tribune.
On Sunday, ICE removed 13 people from Lompoc, two from Santa Barbara and eight from Santa Maria, including four who worked at gas stations, data show.
On Monday, ICE agents removed 24 people from Santa Maria, five from San Luis Obispo, one from Nipomo and three from Paso Robles, data shows.
Gonzalez said ICE agents have detained at least 94 community members from San Luis Obispo County and 537 from Santa Barbara County since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, with a large number of these incidents occurring in the past few days.
Cesar Vasquez, a community organizer with 805 UndocuFund, said he has never seen ICE take away so many people in two days.
“It was hell,” he said.
ICE did not respond to the Tribune’s request for comment about the apparent increase in activity on the Central Coast as of Tuesday.
ICE activity continues to increase this week
On Monday, 805 UndocuFund rapid response agents were patrolling around Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, monitoring ICE agents and providing assistance to separated families, Vasquez said.
In addition to Santa Maria ICE agents, agents from Camarillo and Los Angeles appeared to have joined the group — something Vasquez said he had never seen before.
805 UndocuFund identifies ICE agents based on their vehicles and license plates.
The activity began early Monday in Santa Maria, where ICE picked up a man heading to his car on Rabbit Avenue at 4 a.m., Vazquez said. Then, at 4:45 a.m., ICE stopped on Rabbit Avenue and detained a man and a woman as they drove a man and woman to work, he said.
At 5:24 a.m., ICE removed a man from the parking lot of his West Street apartment building.
Later, ICE detained a man on Morrison Avenue at 5:26 a.m. as he was leaving his child with a babysitter, Vasquez said.
ICE continued to patrol the area, detaining people on Alvin and Bonney avenues and other nearby streets.
Vasquez said agents then raided San Luis Obispo County and removed a father from his apartment at Bullock Lane and Orcutt Road. He said ICE agents captured two men from the same area 30 minutes later and another man on his way to his car 20 minutes later.
At 11:13 a.m., ICE agents detained a man in the lobby of the San Luis Obispo County Jail and he was later released. The Tribune was at the scene when he was detained.
ICE agents arrested a man in the lobby of the San Luis Obispo County Jail on December 29, 2025, apparently as part of a massive, multi-day immigration enforcement operation.
Agents immediately handcuffed him and escorted him to a vehicle in the parking lot. ICE agents did not appear to have a warrant for the man’s arrest and refused to answer questions at the scene.
Meanwhile, in Paso Robles, ICE arrested a man buying groceries at 11:43 a.m., Vazquez said. He said agents continued to pick up others throughout Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo counties Monday afternoon.
Both Vasquez and Gonzalez told the Tribune that a similar situation occurred Tuesday morning, with ICE agents driving around Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties to arrest people on the street.
The increase in activity from the holiday weekend into this week has had a huge impact on community members.
Gonzalez said people are avoiding leaving their homes, even to go to work, see the doctor or take their children to school.
“They were definitely scared,” she said. “Even documented community members are afraid to go out because of what we’re seeing is overt racial profiling. They’re hitting Santa Maria, and that’s where our work community lives.”
These deportations also affected children from mixed-status families.
“When a family separates, sometimes they lose their primary breadwinner,” Gonzalez said. “Children have lost their parents.”
Gonzalez said people can call 805 UndocuFund 805-870-8855 If they see ICE or need help because a friend or family member was taken away. People can donate to the Mutual Aid Fund for Affected Families at 805 UndocuFund by visiting www.pledge.to/mutual-aid-fund.
