ICE agents visited Santa Cruz at least 7 times since January, SCPD records show

Quick Take

On seven occasions this year, The Santa Cruz Police Department has received advanced warning from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers operating within city limits, according to records provided by the department.

On at least seven occasions in the past three months, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has alerted the Santa Cruz Police Department that it will be conducting immigration enforcement within city limits, according to documents provided by Santa Cruz police.

The earliest courtesy notification ICE sent to the police department was in early May, and the most recent notification was received on July 17. A courtesy notification refers to when federal law enforcement agencies notify local police and sheriff’s departments when they plan to conduct any enforcement in their communities.

Lookout filed public records requests with all five law enforcement agencies in Santa Cruz County — the county sheriff’s office and the police departments of Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Capitola and Scotts Valley — for information on any ICE courtesy calls they had received since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20. ICE spokesperson Richard Beam previously told Lookout that notifying local law enforcement when immigration agents will be operating within their respective jurisdictions is standard practice for the agency.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and Capitola and Scotts Valley police departments said they did not have any records indicating their departments had received any calls from immigration agents about enforcement operations.

Watsonville police provided Lookout with records that indicated immigration officials had notified them at least eight times when conducting enforcement in the city since Trump returned to the White House in January. Only one of those calls made by ICE agents could be connected to the arrest of a Watsonville resident outside of their home in May, which was confirmed by grassroots organization Your Allied Rapid Response.

The City of Santa Cruz initially notified Lookout on July 16 that there were “no responsive records” to the request for ICE courtesy notifications. Nearly a week later, the city clerk’s office amended its response and provided seven incident reports that indicated the police department had received courtesy calls from immigration officials.

None of the records provided by Santa Cruz police could be connected to reported arrests or any alleged sightings of immigration agents in the city. The records do not indicate that the police department was given advanced warning before immigration officials arrested and deported 62-year-old handyman Adolfo Gonzalez in January — the first known deportation in the county, which occurred in the early days of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Much like the records provided by Watsonville police earlier this month, incident reports from Santa Cruz police show that ICE agents typically conducted enforcement in the city during early morning hours, usually ending operations around 10 a.m., or 11 a.m. at the latest.

Most courtesy calls to the department were related to immigration agents conducting surveillance; none indicated that ICE had conducted any large-scale raids. Comments by police officers on the incident reports also show that agents sported plain clothes and drove unmarked vehicles. The reports also include the make and color of the cars. Some of the vehicles used by immigration officials include a gray Hyundai Sonata, black Nissan Pathfinder and a navy blue Ford Fusion.

Unlike in Watsonville, where ICE did not seem to focus on one area of the city in particular, in Santa Cruz, immigration agents appeared to generally target streets near downtown and in the Lower Ocean neighborhood that are home to more renters and a younger, more diverse population than other parts of the city.

In two of the records from May 17, ICE agents operated in the area of Clay and Roberts streets and around Barson Street and San Lorenzo Boulevard.

“[ICE] will be doing surveillance, will be armed, 2 officers out at this address, negative assistance needed, and patrol as usual,” read the comments from police officers on the report indicating ICE surveillance along Barson Street and San Lorenzo Boulevard.

There were also two courtesy calls from immigration officials to the police department on July 13, on Neary Street and Agnes Street, respectively. Neither indicates whether an arrest was made at either location.

Addresses of exact locations targeted by immigration agents were redacted from records provided by Santa Cruz police. The department also redacted phone numbers and license plates of vehicles used by ICE agents.

While other law enforcement agencies in California have released statements confirming ICE activity, neither the Watsonville nor Santa Cruz police departments have done so. Watsonville police chief Jorge Zamora told Lookout that he initially weighed alerting the public, but ultimately decided against the idea because he did not want to cause fear and panic within the community.

Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker told Lookout via email on July 30 that the police department does not cooperate with immigration officials in any capacity, and added that courtesy calls from ICE are rare.

Courtesy notifications to the department from ICE agents are “extremely limited in detail,” said police chief Bernie Escalante via email on July 31. When the department receives these calls from ICE agents, they are routed through the department’s dispatch center and shared with the on-duty supervisor, said Huffaker.

Due to the lack of information provided by immigration officials, it limits the city’s ability to provide meaningful and accurate information to the public, Escalante said. City leadership is mindful of the fear making announcements about ICE presence can cause the community, said Huffaker.

“Our focus remains on protecting community trust and ensuring the safety of all residents, regardless of immigration status,” said Escalante via email.

Earlier this year, Beam told Lookout that when ICE conducts arrests, they’re not random. There’s a lot of research that goes into investigating the person immigration agents are targeting, which includes verifying if the person has legal status, he said. From there, officials determine whether the individual is “eligible to be removed” from the country before getting a final approval from an immigration judge.

“We know who we’re looking for before we even exit a vehicle to try to arrest somebody,” said Beam.