A reported United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in California, known as “Operation Safe California,” is raising questions about immigration enforcement practices and its impact on communities.
The Washington Examiner reports the operation would direct ICE officers to arrest all undocumented immigrants they encounter, regardless of criminal history. Homeland Security has stated it does not discuss law enforcement operations.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the reported plan, accusing President Donald Trump of using fear to put families at risk. “California will defend its communities and hold federal agents accountable,” Newsom said.
The reported ICE crackdown in California has communities on edge.
In Sacramento, residents are reacting to a detention that occurred Thursday morning in a south Sacramento neighborhood. Witnesses say immigration officers detained a 32-year-old man from Nicaragua, who has lived in Sacramento for about five years. The man was reportedly on his way to drop off his four-year-old daughter with her mother when he was stopped.
Delma Vidal, a Sacramento resident, recorded the detention outside her home and described the emotional scene.
“He was saying, ‘call the police, call the police,’ and he goes, ‘quiero mi bebé,’ I want my baby, who was in the car, and I think it was maybe a little 4-year-old who was in the car,” Vidal said.
Vidal said the incident left her emotional. “Yeah, I am a little emotional because we’re Hispanics, we’re human beings, we’re from different worlds. I’ve been in this home for 30 years, and things like that shouldn’t happen,” she said.
The child’s mother, Lizeth, said hearing her daughter cry for her father has been painful.
“I still feel bad because I feel like it causes trauma for the children. I’m speaking from my own experience, because as a mother, it’s really hard to hear your child screaming for her dad,” Lizeth said.
Lizeth said the father was taken to Bakersfield, but she does not know the status of his case.
Sacramento City Council Member Mai Vang said her office has been hearing growing concerns from residents about increased immigration enforcement. She pointed to a city policy limiting federal immigration enforcement on city property.
“We did pass a recent policy that would ban federal agents, ICE activities on city properties – that is a policy in the city of Sacramento. We’ve had conversations with the city manager making sure that we don’t want good policy to die in implementation,” Vang said.
It remains unclear whether the Sacramento detention is connected to the reported 45-day enforcement operation across California. KCRA 3 has reached out to ICE for more information and we’re waiting to hear back.
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