Goleta council adopts resolution calling federal lawmakers to act after regional ICE raids

The Goleta City Council on Monday adopted a resolution calling on the city’s federal representatives to advocate on behalf of immigrants who live and work in Goleta, and directed staff to pursue a package of actions after weeks of regional immigration enforcement activity.

Council members approved the measure unanimously, and instructed staff to request federal records, monitor litigation, pursue state and federal policy remedies, coordinate with regional partners and federal offices, and appropriate $100,000 from the city’s childcare initiatives to fund legal defense, rapid response and community supports administered through the Human Services Committee.

The resolution, numbered 25, was introduced during a special meeting called by the council after high‑profile inspections and enforcement actions in Carpinteria and Camarillo earlier this month that advocates and local officials said had increased fear among immigrants and their families. In presenting legal context to the council, District Attorney John Savernock said the fear on the ground is “real,” and warned that local agencies cannot prevent federal agents with valid warrants from carrying out arrests.

“We do not participate in immigration enforcement,” Lieutenant Frank Vasquez of the Sheriff’s Office told the council. “SB 54, also known as the California Values Act, is a state law that restricts California law enforcement agencies from using their resources to assist federal immigration enforcement.” Vasquez said the sheriff’s office typically receives a short “deconfliction” notice when outside agencies operate in the county but that those notices rarely contain case details.

Speakers from immigrant legal services organizations and community groups told the council the enforcement activity has caused trauma, interrupted access to medical care and schools, and reduced attendance at food banks and other services. Julissa Pena, executive director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Center, urged the council to provide urgent funding similar to Los Angeles’s Justice Fund and to shore up local legal representation after she described difficulties attorneys experienced getting access to detained people during recent raids.

Local organizations and dozens of residents asked the council to consider a broader set of measures: joining or supporting litigation challenging ICE practices, creating an emergency funding stream for immigrant legal services and mental health care, ensuring visible identification by federal officers, requiring verification of warrants when possible, and using city facilities to store and distribute supplies for families.

The council’s package of next steps directs the city manager to: (1) work with regional partners, (2) submit Freedom of Information Act requests to ICE and other federal agencies for records about recent enforcement actions, (3) track and evaluate lawsuits filed by groups such as the ACLU and report back on the legal options for the city (including whether to file an amicus brief), (4) support state and federal legislative efforts the staff identified in the report (including SB 54 references and proposed bills to require federal officers to identify themselves), (5) coordinate with Congressmember Salud Carbajal’s office and other federal representatives on identification and oversight steps, and (6) provide $100,000 from the city’s unallocated childcare initiatives to the Human Services Committee to rapidly distribute to local nonprofits for legal defense, rapid response and mutual aid.

Council members also asked staff to explore additional operational steps: whether the city can provide storage and supply staging space at the community center for mutual‑aid use, whether the sheriff’s office can adopt a ‘‘monitor and record’’ practice for incidents that cause public safety concern, and whether contract language in the next policing contract can better clarify responses to federal immigration actions.

Mayor Perotti and several council members said the meeting was a start, not an end, and asked staff to convene a regional roundtable of service providers and cities to keep the response coordinated. Councilmember Smith moved the resolution; the council seconded and approved it unanimously in a roll call vote (Reyes Martin — yes; Curioco — yes; Smith — yes; Mayor Pro Tempore Casdon — yes; Mayor Perotti — yes).

Community members and service providers urged that the city continue to press for transparency and legal protections as federal policy and funding change. Several speakers asked the council to consider a larger emergency appropriation than the $100,000 the council authorized at the meeting; advocates present asked the city to join broader legal challenges, to publicly require visible federal identification, and to build a sustained fund for legal defense and trauma services.

The action comes amid a regional wave of enforcement that community organizations say included a multi‑county operation around July 10 that ICE told the public arrested more than 300 people, with local reports indicating a smaller number taken in Carpinteria. The council’s resolution instructs staff to send copies of the measure to members of Congress who represent the city and to pursue additional investigatory steps and legal options on an expedited basis.

Ending note: Councilmembers directed the Human Services Committee to meet quickly to recommend how to distribute the newly appropriated $100,000 and asked the city manager to return with more details on FOIA requests, a possible amicus brief, and operational options discussed at the meeting.