Overview
- Officials working inside ICE told reporters that the unannounced campaign, called Operation Safe California, began in and around San Diego in recent days and is expected to move north through Los Angeles to San Francisco over roughly 45 days.
- Multiple anonymous ICE sources said leadership instructed officers to arrest any undocumented person they encounter, not only those with criminal convictions, and to highlight arrests of people labeled as serious criminals.
- The Department of Homeland Security declined to confirm or deny the operation, saying ICE cannot discuss law enforcement actions for the safety and security of employees.
- ICE units in California were ordered back to mandatory six-day workweeks and previously approved time off was canceled, creating operational strain as officers are redeployed and volunteers are pulled in from other offices.
- The surge comes shortly before the midterm elections and follows prior large deployments to Democratic-leaning jurisdictions; advocates and past raids note many detained people lacked criminal records and predict legal challenges and public protests in sanctuary cities.