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When Immigration and Customs Enforcement makes arrests, the agency rarely notifies regional officials. In San Mateo County, if local leaders catch wind ICE could be in the area, many don’t tell the public.
As one of the most immigrant-dense counties in the country, San Mateo County is split over when and how much to notify residents about ICE operations.
Faith in Action Bay Area, a nonprofit that doubles as the county’s ICE rapid-response team, verifies every report of immigration activity it receives, but only shares some publicly. The group’s caution has drawn both praise and criticism: some say it helps prevent fearmongering, while others argue residents have a right to know as much as possible about federal immigration operations in their neighborhood.
The fear factor
Faith in Action runs the county’s ICE hotline and dispatches trained volunteers to verify reports of detentions. Once confirmed, the organization publicizes alerts online only if a particular detention raises significant community concern.
“If we were to ring an alarm bell every single time (an ICE detention) happened, that would generate only more panic and terror,” said Nani Friedman, a spokesperson for the organization. “This is a manufactured time of terror for the immigrant community, and we are not trying to aid in the terror.”
At least 45 San Mateo County residents were detained by ICE in September and October, according to Faith in Action, though this figure is likely an “undercount,” Friedman said.
The organization works to immediately verify reports of ICE activity, which have been made by over 7,500 callers to Faith in Action’s San Mateo County rapid response hotline at 203-666-4472 (NO-MIGRA). It then partners with San Mateo County to help connect frontline folks with free or low-cost legal services and offers continued, sometimes financial, support to help prevent homelessness if a breadwinner is detained.
“Our purpose is not to fuel further intimidation of terror in the immigrant community,” Friedman said. “It’s to provide legal support to people affected and verified information about trends.”
Viral arrest videos, the county’s rapid response hotline overview states, can also “harm” the legal cases of detained individuals and “violate their privacy.”
Demands for full-disclosure
Still, many residents and advocates say the public deserves full transparency.
“People have to be respected as adults to make informed decisions,” said George Galvis, executive director of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice. “Think about the arrogance and how paternalistic it is that our elected officials would not think to share information with their constituents.”
Verónica Escámez, founder and executive director of Casa Circulo Cultural, a Redwood City nonprofit that offers arts and education programs largely to local Latinos, said she helps alert the public to ICE activity through private group texts.
“I’m not gonna keep quiet,” Escámez said. “I would feel so, so bad if I see that (ICE) is right there, and don’t say anything not to cause fear, and then they can get someone else.”
Many residents spoke to this news organization in Spanish and asked not to be identified, fearing immigration enforcement.
One woman in North Fair Oaks, a largely Spanish-speaking unincorporated community, said she would like to know more from local leaders, as did another older resident. A younger community member said she thinks it’s “better that everyone is well-informed” with as much information as possible to know where not to go.
And while many in the community are still uneasy about immigration enforcement, people continue showing up to work, to school, to everyday life.
As one 49-year-old woman at a Redwood City discount store noted in Spanish, “We need to live our life.” She said she’s been a little worried about her husband continuing to go to work, but that he hasn’t stopped and is not afraid himself.
Treading the tightrope
San Mateo County Supervisor Noelia Corzo told this news organization recently that she relies on Faith in Action’s approach for informing the community about immigration operations, and will “usually repost FIA posts.”
“While I want to be aware of every single ICE activity, I don’t think there’s a need to tell everyone in the community,” Corzo said. “I’m trying to balance sharing accurate information with not causing panic or long-term economic harm.”
She added that fear can have economic consequences: “People would not be going to work or buying things outside and in businesses.”
Redwood City Mayor Elmer Martínez Saballos told this news organization in September that he worried about communicating arrests to the public, which could draw attention, fuel activism and attract more ire from federal agents. His team encourages community members to use Faith in Action’s rapid response hotline.
Martínez Saballos and Corzo addressed the public at a press conference on Oct. 23, the morning when President Donald Trump initially planned to deploy a barrage of federal agents, including ICE, to the Bay Area. While the president ultimately cancelled these plans, the episode spurred renewed anxiety among immigrant families.
Because ICE rarely alerts regional law enforcement of its operations and no law nationwide requires officials at any level of government to share with the public any ICE activity they learn about, local leaders point to their partnership with Faith in Action as a sound and sufficient source for ICE information.
In late October, though, the Department of Homeland Security did name drop 15 individuals it arrested nationwide in one weekend, including one who was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Redwood City. An ICE public affairs specialist told this news organization that ICE doesn’t share granular statistics about its arrests and that it would publish a holistic report of its 2025 arrests for “our entire Northern California field office” after the new year.
County rules and sheriff’s response
San Mateo County is among the handful of counties across the country that have passed a low-cooperation ICE policy — meaning local representatives can’t assist ICE with property, personnel, or money unless legally required to do so through a judicial warrant.
The county Sheriff’s Office has received over 800 requests from ICE regarding immigrant detentions since March, and has not complied with a single one, according to Gretchen Spiker, the director of communications for the Sheriff’s Office.
Given “federal immigration officials don’t notify the Sheriff’s Office when they make an arrest,” Spiker said the agency can’t notify the public of ICE activity.
The only time the Sheriff’s Office released a public statement regarding ICE activity this year was on July 24, when ex-Sheriff Christina Corpus clarified that a man who was just released from the Maguire Correctional Facility was arrested on a public sidewalk outside of the facility by what was believed to be ICE.
She did so because she understood “this situation may cause fear and concern among the community.” The former sheriff stated that “while information is limited, I’m proactively sharing what we do know as part of my commitment to you.”
She noted that “while it is explicitly against our policy to share details of the release of an incarcerated person with federal immigration enforcement agencies, we cannot prevent their access to court records and other publicly available information about incarcerated persons.”
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office released a similar press release in June to clarify what was believed to be an ICE interaction at their Elmwood Correctional Facility.
Coexisting with concern
At the county’s press conference on the threat of a Bay Area federal raid, numerous officials raised concerns about declining school and work attendance.
However, Jorge Quintana, the director of communications for Redwood City School District, told this news organization that attendance numbers have “held close to 94%” the last two school years, and are “slightly above 95% this year.”
Redwood City Economic Development Manager Amanda Anthony said the City doesn’t track the impact of immigration enforcement on the workforce, but does work closely with the business community and local nonprofits “to support a stable and inclusive local economy.”
Even the city’s hallmark Día de Muertos celebration on Nov. 2 was “packed,” according to social media content creator Pluma Coria, who “expected there to be fewer people” given the uptick in ICE activity in the area and the agency’s focus on Hispanic immigrants.
Anecdotally, though, employers and schools can feel the heat from ICE.
Norma Soto of Estella’s Apples, a local vendor at the celebration, admitted that “the majority of the people don’t feel secure,” so that’s “played a role in slowing down our sales.”
Tracking trends
Faith in Action’s monthly reports show patterns that help the community understand who is being targeted.
In October, the organization found that two-thirds of the 24 arrests of San Mateo County residents occurred at immigration check-ins, which are appointments ICE uses to ensure compliance with supervision conditions. In September, though, all but one of that month’s 21 detentions occurred through targeted efforts, ICE check-ins, and immigration court or interviews. The vast majority of those detained have been adult men.
Friedman said the group hasn’t seen evidence this year of ICE “grabbing people indiscriminately on the street or based on race or language.” To date, there have been no reported workplace, school or hospital raids.
The vast majority of individuals who attend ICE appointments in San Francisco are not detained, Faith in Action says, and people must show up so their legal pathways to citizenship can continue.
Faith in Action offers opportunities to get involved, starting with distributing posters and yellow/orange/red cards that can help targeted folks assert their rights. The organization also wants help in spreading awareness of verified ICE activity by reposting its @fiabayarea Instagram and “Faith in Action Bay Area” Facebook posts.
Those interested in volunteering with the organization can join its hundreds of verifiers who visit sites rumored to have an ICE presence and/or accompany immigrants who want extra reinforcement and support at ICE check-ins and in court in San Francisco.
To join the more than 350 individual donors who are supporting families directly impacted by ICE detention and deportation, contribute to the organization’s mutual-aid fund, 100% of which helps families cover rent and groceries to prevent homelessness.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated for clarity and accuracy to remove a detail about an immigration enforcement trend.
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