Escondido Leaders Keep ICE Contract in Place

Twenty years ago, Escondido Councilmember Consuelo Martinez watched as an elderly man in a sombrero was picked up by Border Patrol agents while walking out of a Food 4 Less grocery store in Escondido. 

He was probably 70 or 80 years old, Martinez said during Wednesday’s City Council meeting. He reminded her of her grandfather. 

She described seeing two Border Patrol vehicles drive up to the man and “snatch him away.” 

“They kidnapped him. You know why? Because they didn’t even ask him any questions,” Martinez said. “Don’t tell me about probable cause, they kidnapped that man… I’ll never forget it.” 

At Wednesday’s meeting, Martinez made a motion to overturn a contract between the Escondido Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security, which grants ICE agents the ability to use a city-owned firing range for training. None of her four council colleagues would second her motion – meaning they killed it without bringing it to a vote. 

More than 100 people spoke at the meeting, asking councilmembers to cancel the contract. 

Escondido resident James Nielsen was one of them. He told a story about his 77-year-old relative, an American citizen from Guatemala who was taken by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers just eight months ago. 

While walking home from a bible study, she was picked up by ICE, taken to a detention center where she sustained a head injury, transported to Mexico City and then ended up in Guatemala. Once the embassy there realized she was an American citizen, they released her, but Nielsen’s family had to pay to get her back home. 

“They made us pay for her to come back,” Nielsen said. “We cannot allow this to happen any longer.” 

Many residents said the contract represents more than a training agreement. It sparks fears of a larger ICE presence in a city that has wrestled with aggressive immigration enforcement in the past. 

Last month, L.A. Taco was the first to report that the police department had approved a $22,500 contract with the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 15. The agreement runs through January 2027 and includes options to extend it through 2029, bringing the total value to as much as $67,500.   

It allows ICE officers to use the shooting range, located along Valley Center Road, to conduct training. Because the contract amount was below a certain threshold, the department approved it administratively and was not required to ask the City Council for approval. 

ICE teams, as well as multiple other local, state and federal agencies, have used the facility for training since around 2013, but residents said this administration’s ICE agency is different from those in previous administrations. 

Some residents and elected officials have also raised concerns about ICE agents carrying out enforcement actions while traveling to and from the firing range, fearing the idea of agents being in their communities at all. 

Before Wednesday’s City Council meeting, hundreds of residents protested the contract outside City Hall. And at the meeting, 106 public speakers pleaded with councilmembers to cancel the contract, while only two speakers were in favor of keeping the contract in place. 

But despite the overwhelming opposition, four members of the council, including Mayor Dane White, declined to support Martinez’ motion to cancel the contract, meaning it will remain in place. 

White said that city management and the city manager’s office approve thousands of contracts without the council’s input, because Escondido runs on a city manager form of government. 

A city manager form of government, or council-manager government, is a system where an elected City Council sets policies and hires a non-political government to oversee day-to-day operations. 

City Manager Sean McGlynn and City Attorney Mike McGuinness both said they don’t know of past situations where the City Council terminated any other contracts like this one without cause. 

“When councilmembers or mayors get involved in operations, it creates confusion about who has the authority. Then where do you draw the line?” White said. “There is nowhere to draw it because this is political.” 

White agreed that the “current situation is chaotic,” but said canceling this contract would be more chaotic. 

Deputy Mayor Joe Garcia said he was concerned that if the contract was canceled there would be retribution from the federal government. 

Councilmember Judy Fitzgerald said that as a former law enforcement officer she supports providing a space for training for all levels of law enforcement to increase public safety. And Councilmember Christian Garcia said he values the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to curb drug and human trafficking. 

A Contentious History With Immigration Enforcement 

Many of the residents who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting told of a time in Escondido, in the early 2000s, when immigration enforcement agents were heavily present in their communities. 

Patricia Serrano, who has lived in Escondido for 30 years and used to be undocumented, remembered when the city allowed the Escondido Police Department to collaborate with ICE agents.  

“If you don’t know the story of the city, it has always been a struggle for the immigrant community,” Serrano said during the meeting, becoming emotional as she spoke. “I know many stories of Latino and immigrant communities distrusting the police department, and I know firsthand what it’s like to be afraid to report a crime because of just the way I look. Escondido has a long history of abuse against our community. This must end today.” 

That history goes as far back as around 2006 when Escondido tried to establish a law where landlords could not rent to undocumented immigrants, which was later struck down in the courts. In 2010, the Escondido Police Department began to house ICE agents inside the police department. And a few months later, the police started working with ICE to jointly conduct DUI and driver’s license check points that also served as immigration stops to catch undocumented immigrants.  

There were hundreds of people arrested and deported during those years, creating a fear that permeated through the city. Some speakers said they used to be afraid to leave their house at that time, warning that those same concerns are now coming back for many residents. 

Escondido has seen the largest number of ICE arrests in North County since the Trump Administration’s push for mass deportations began in January 2025. 

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