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ICE agents detained at least 92 people across California's Central Coast in unannounced holiday sweeps

Between December 27 and 29, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, joined by agents from the Camarillo and Los Angeles field offices, detained at least 92 people across Santa Maria, Lompoc, San Luis Obispo, Nipomo, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara, California, apprehending people at homes, workplaces, parking lots and shopping areas starting as early as 4 a.m., and in one case taking a man into custody from the San Luis Obispo County Jail lobby upon his release without presenting a warrant. At a January 2, 2026 press conference, Santa Maria City Councilmember Gloria Soto said local advocacy groups had documented roughly 150 detentions since the sweep began, about 87 of them in Santa Maria, and 805 UndocuFund characterized the operation as indiscriminate racial profiling of working-class Latino communities.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Santa Maria, Lompoc, San Luis Obispo, Nipomo, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara, California

Abuses documented

Actors

Between December 27 and 29, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted multi-day sweeps across California's Central Coast, detaining people in Santa Maria, Lompoc, San Luis Obispo, Nipomo, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara. Agents from ICE's Camarillo and Los Angeles field offices assisted local operations, starting as early as 4 a.m. and apprehending people at homes, workplaces, parking lots and shopping areas. According to data collected by 805 UndocuFund's Rapid Response Network, ICE took 34 people into custody in Santa Maria and two in San Luis Obispo on December 27; 13 people in Lompoc, two in Santa Barbara and eight in Santa Maria on December 28; and 24 people in Santa Maria, five in San Luis Obispo, one in Nipomo and three in Paso Robles on December 29. On December 29, ICE agents took a man into custody from the lobby of the San Luis Obispo County Jail as he was being released; a reporter for The Tribune was on scene and reported that ICE agents did not present a warrant to the man and refused to answer questions. 805 UndocuFund communications organizer Claudia Gonzalez said ICE picked most people up in areas where immigrants live and work, calling it "a direct attack on our communities." ICE did not respond to requests for comment on the operations.

Updates

2026-01-02 — Local leaders said the tally had reached roughly 150, called it racial profiling [3, 4]

Santa Maria City Councilmember Gloria Soto, local advocacy groups and community members gathered outside Santa Maria's ICE office to denounce the sweep. Soto said local organizations had documented nearly 150 ICE detentions in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties since December 27, about 87 of them in Santa Maria, calling the city "the epicenter of what we're seeing over this holiday break" and 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." California Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón, who also spoke, said "we cannot live in terror, and right now our community is living in terror." Immigrant Legal Defense Center attorney Maria Salguero said ICE had barred her from entering its Santa Maria facility to speak with her clients, calling it "a constitutional violation" of her clients' right to counsel. ICE had not responded to requests for comment as of the press conference.

2026-01-05 — DHS said it arrested 118 people, called them "worst of the worst" [5]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a January 5, 2026 press release that ICE arrested 118 people in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties between December 26 and 31, citing arrestees' prior convictions including sex offenses, domestic violence, burglary and DUI. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said "Criminal illegal aliens flock to California because they know Governor Newsom and his fellow sanctuary politicians will allow them to terrorize innocent American families." The release did not address the reported lack of a warrant at the San Luis Obispo County Jail detention or the "indiscriminate racial profiling" characterization from local advocates.

Why we recorded this

Immigration enforcement operating at this scale, hitting homes, workplaces, and a county jail lobby across an entire region over a holiday weekend, including at least one detention where agents did not present a warrant or answer questions on scene, is the kind of dragnet that a named sitting councilmember and an established local advocacy group both characterized on the record as indiscriminate racial profiling rather than targeted, individualized enforcement. This archive records the sweep because when enforcement scale and manner outrun any case-by-case justification offered for it, the pattern itself becomes the abuse.

Sources

  1. Central Coast Immigration Sweeps Escalate at End of Year — Santa Barbara Independent investigative accessed September 6, 2026
  2. ICE swarmed Central Coast neighborhoods after Christmas. Here's when and where — The Tribune (San Luis Obispo), via Yahoo News primary accessed September 6, 2026
  3. Community leaders hold press conference to bring attention to recent ICE actions — KSBY News primary accessed September 6, 2026
  4. Leaders, Activists Gather in Santa Maria to Denounce Surge in ICE Activity — Noozhawk investigative accessed September 6, 2026
  5. ICE Arrests 118 Illegal Aliens Including Pedophiles, Burglars, Domestic Abusers, and Serial Drunk Drivers in California Surge Operation — U.S. Department of Homeland Security primary accessed September 6, 2026

See also