California Braces as ICE Arrests Climb Before the Midterms
Dozens detained in a matter of days
In the weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, immigrant advocates and local media across California are reporting a sharp rise in arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On the Central Coast, nearly 100 people were reported arrested in the tri-county area of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties since Monday, October 5, including at least 63 in Santa Barbara County alone, with more than a dozen taken each day from Monday through Thursday in Santa Maria and Lompoc.
A 45-day operation moving north
According to the Washington Examiner, which first reported the plan on October 7 citing unnamed sources, the push is known internally as "Operation Safe California." It began several days earlier around San Diego, staffed by officers from San Diego plus personnel drawn from the Los Angeles and San Francisco field offices, and is expected to last at least 45 days, working north through Los Angeles toward San Francisco by November — meaning it would still be active when voters go to the polls.
"Go after anybody," sources say
The sources told the Examiner that field agents were ordered to arrest any unauthorized immigrants they encounter, regardless of criminal history, with one source texting that "management want numbers." The Department of Homeland Security would neither confirm nor deny the operation, saying ICE does not discuss enforcement operations for the safety of its personnel, while pointing to recent arrests of convicted offenders.
Los Angeles and the Valley feel the surge
Sacramento calls it fear, Washington calls it duty
Governor Gavin Newsom blasted the raids as a "campaign of fear," accusing the White House of using mass deportations to terrify diverse communities out of voting legally, and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said the raids were about fear, not public safety. A DHS spokesperson called Newsom's comments a "reckless smear" and another false narrative demonizing ICE officers, insisting the department enforces the law every day nationwide, including in California.
