![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Reported-ICE-activity-on-Woolsey-and-Telegraph-streets.jpg\")
ICE agents detained someone near Telegraph Avenue and Woolsey Street July 9, 2026, shown here four days later. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\nICE agents detained someone near Telegraph Avenue and Woolsey Street July 9, 2026, shown here four days later. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n
Editors\u2019 note: This article was first published July 14 and updated July 16 with additional information.<\/p>\n
Federal agents detained a 30-year-old visa holder near Telegraph Avenue and Woolsey Street on July 9 and, by all appearances, did so without telling anyone in city leadership<\/a> or law enforcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Agents from the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), a law enforcement arm of the State Department, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement\u2019s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations division, under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), conducted a \u201ccivil immigration enforcement operation,\u201d a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.<\/p>\n The State Department did not respond to questions about people detained or arrested, or the nature of the enforcement action referring questions to ICE, which led the operation. The arrest was the first confirmed ICE action in Berkeley to result in a detention since the start of Trump\u2019s second term, marking a rare enforcement action in the sanctuary city.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an unsigned email Thursday, an ICE spokesperson identified the person detained as a 30-year-old from Morocco who \u201centered the United States in 2025 on a visa but later violated the terms of that visa.\u201d<\/p>\n ICE did not specify what type of visa the person held or how they allegedly violated its terms. A search of Alameda County and federal court records showed no criminal charges against the person.<\/p>\n The person was in custody at ICE\u2019s Golden State Annex facility in McFarland in Kern County as of Thursday, according to the agency\u2019s detainee locator<\/a>.<\/p>\n Neither parent agency told city police anything about what they were planning to do Thursday, Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Byron White said in an email. Nor did the police department have anything to do with the operation.<\/p>\n It is also not entirely clear why DSS agents were detailed to an ICE operation. The agency primarily protects diplomats and consulates, but also investigates visa and passport fraud, terrorism and other transnational crimes.<\/p>\n When a law enforcement agency, even a federal one, operates in a local agency\u2019s jurisdiction, it is common, though not always required, to give the home team a heads-up. When DHS agents came to Berkeley in September to speak with someone about a resident application, for example, they gave the Berkeley Police Department a courtesy call, albeit a cursory one.<\/p>\n Berkeley police do not assist in immigration enforcement<\/a>, part of the city\u2019s longstanding sanctuary policy.<\/p>\n But as ICE has prosecuted President Donald Trump\u2019s campaign promise to dramatically increase deportations<\/a>, the public agency and its parent department have, in general, not responded to media inquiries from Berkeleyside<\/a> and its sister<\/a> newsrooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Berkeley operation fell in between two fatal shootings by ICE agents, one in Texas<\/a> and the other in Maine<\/a>.<\/p>\n The number of people entering into ICE detention facilities climbed in June to roughly 39,000 after hovering around 30,000 per month since February, according to information obtained by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Advocacy organizations in Berkeley were also taken by surprise<\/p>\n East Bay immigrant advocacy organizations told Berkeleyside they did not receive any tips that the operation had taken place. A representative of the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant called it \u201cvery disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n The Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership posted on Instagram that it was \u201caware\u201d of reports of ICE arresting someone at Woolsey and Telegraph, and asked anyone with information to contact them at 510-241-4011 or info@acilep.org.<\/p>\n Local advocates and immigrant rights groups in Berkeley have responded to increased rumors of ICE sightings near schools, city parks, and residential neighborhoods since the start of Donald Trump\u2019s second presidential term.\u00a0<\/p>\n In March 2025, Berkeley Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra received some criticism for reporting that ICE was at UC Berkeley<\/a> for \u201ca presentation of some kind.\u201d The rapid response group was able to confirm officials had been in the area, but not for enforcement purposes. A month later, ICE agents visited a Berkeley home<\/a>, where an immigrant family who applied for refugee status had previously lived, to conduct a \u201cchild welfare check.\u201d<\/p>\n Several unverified reports of immigration enforcement agents at San Pablo Park<\/a> and other parts of Berkeley were made last summer, but city officials and the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership (ACILEP), which serves as the region\u2019s rapid response hotline, were not able to confirm ICE presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last June, when protests erupted in Los Angeles in response to increased ICE and National Guard presence, rumors spread that a construction site in Downtown Berkeley had been raided and workers had been taken away. No ICE activity was confirmed.<\/p>\n The arrival of federal Customs and Border Patrol agents early in the morning on Oct. 23<\/a> to Coast Guard Island in Alameda sparked protests and sent community advocates scrambling. But just as quickly as the situation had escalated, it quieted down: By the next day, local officials confirmed that the federal operation in the Bay Area had been called off<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, Berkeley teachers<\/a>, students<\/a> and community members<\/a> have rallied in opposition to federal immigration raids across the country.<\/p>\n The operation was previously reported<\/a> by The Berkeley Scanner.<\/p>\n Featured photo credit: AP Photo\/Erin Hooley<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018ICE-free zones\u2019 among ideas Alameda County is considering to defend against Trump immigration crackdown<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 14, 2026Jan. 14, 2026, 10:52 a.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tFake immigration lawyers are scamming Bay Area families<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tDecember 19, 2025Dec. 22, 2025, 2:08 p.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\u2018ICE-free](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784252116_823_large-50044964892_5b15f6501c_k.jpg\")
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