The Santa Barbara City Council held hours of tense and emotional discussion on March 10, 2026, regarding federal immigration enforcement in the city.
During the meeting, Mayor Randy Rowse and Councilmember Wendy Santamaria expressed strikingly opposing views on the city’s response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity and the role of the local police.
The debate unfolded as officials considered strengthening a resolution (originally adopted in July 2025) reaffirming Santa Barbara’s commitment to protecting residents regardless of their immigration status.
The City Council voted unanimously to continue the item to a future meeting to allow for further “co-creation” of the resolution with community organizations. The council also ordered a separate report and audit on data privacy and the contract with Flock license plate readers to ensure residents’ information was not being accessed by federal authorities.
Concerns Over Recent ICE Encounters
City officials highlighted some recent encounters between ICE agents and community members that had left residents fearful.
City Administrator Kelly McAdoo mentioned two “disturbing and traumatic” incidents, while public speakers noted that ICE was active in Santa Barbara and Oxnard on the day of the meeting.
On March 10, 2026, ICE agents were reported to have injured a man during an encounter that left him with a mouth injury. The man was hospitalized and later detained.
On the same day, a community leader in Oxnard was reportedly pulled from their vehicle after agents broke the car window and forced the person to the ground.
Councilmembers and public speakers also mentioned incidents in which students were detained by ICE agents while filling their cars with gas on their way to school.
Community members described ICE agents using pepper spray on observers, driving erratically, and operating without identifying themselves or using marked vehicles.
Role of Police
Police Chief Kelly Gordon and McAdoo reaffirmed that the Santa Barbara Police Department (SBPD) does not participate in federal civil immigration enforcement.
When the SBPD is present during ICE operations, their goal is to de-escalate and ensure public safety, not assist federal agencies, Gordon said.
The city attorney explained that federal law does not allow local police to arrest federal agents for performing their duties, even if they use force such as pepper spray. Interfering with federal operations could lead to local officers being arrested for conspiracy or obstruction.
Mayor Defends Police
While Rowse criticized the actions of federal agents, he defended the police and cautioned against local government overreach.
Comparing the professional behavior of the SBPD with federal law enforcement officials, whom he characterized as “a group of wannabe mall cops,” he praised the local police as the “epitome of moderation, control, and community policing.”
He expressed disappointment at comments from councilmembers and said it showed their lack of confidence in the force.
Following claims that the SBPD protects federal agents over the community, Rowse called the accusation “not true” and “repugnant.”
The mayor also questioned the legality and appropriateness of the council dictating new policies and procedures to the police based on political views, suggesting such actions could conflict with the City Charter.
Santamaria Calls for Stronger Protections
Arguing that the city’s existing policies were insufficient to address the “reign of terror,” Councilmember Santamaria called for more concrete actions to protect residents.
Many residents do not feel safe when federal agents operate in the city, she said, emphasizing that “lives are at stake” and that the council must respond to the loss of public trust rather than become defensive.
She said that the city has “no business or obligation” to help federal immigration operations succeed. She expressed concern that “maintaining order” during a raid meant protecting ICE from the public.
She advocated for the city to prioritize the expertise and input of local rapid response teams who are on the ground during ICE operations.
She called for the city’s resolution to be strengthened with enforceable rules instead of “vague policies” or “gestures” that invite chaos.
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KEVIN – you beat your (little and likely sunken) chest about “lawbreakers,” but you voted for someone who routinely has broken laws and has released actual, violent criminals from prison and many have been out commiting crimes such as child rape, drug dealing, spousal abuse and more, most of which they were already convicted of before being set free.
In a mature, non-toddler manner, can you explain this glaring hypocrisy?
Sac it’s so simple, you break our laws you go to jail, or your own country. No other country would tolerate this.
Hey KEVSTER – No other country would tolerate laws being broken without consequence? You sure? You sure about that? You sure? You sure about that?
Uh….. Jan 6 pardons.
Drug Lord ex president of Honduras pardoned.
Online drug kingpin, Ross Ulbricht, pardoned.
Trump convicted of 34 counts of a felony. No time served.
Child rapists not being investigated because they’re billionaires.
List could go on and on…..
I guess the United States is “no other country.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti9bzNWWTDY
Then why isn’t Trump in jail? Or the ICE thugs trampling constitutional rights?
Or all the grifters in the federal administration now?
Police Chief Kelly Gordon and McAdoo reaffirmed that the Santa Barbara Police Department (SBPD) does not participate in federal civil immigration enforcement.
Noted and reported. Let’s not lose any federal funding over this stance we are already in a bad budget short fall.
Yes – do what they ask so you can eek by. That is what many thought they should do when the NAZlS took power. It’s a weak response.
JULIE – who did you “report” this to? You must be so proud of yourself.
Someone supporting the brutalization of brown people sounds like an awful person. I wonder if they also support the child r*** propagated by Donald Trump and his elite gang of pedos.
what? So you would rather sell out than stand your ground and defend your community members? For money? *floored* WE fund the feds, you don’t seem to get that. California is the largest doner state. We basically fund the government. They can say all they want and threaten us withholding this or that. It won’t happen.
So Wendy Santa Maria wants the City – while it’s in the midst of a big time budget deficit and desperately looking to increase revenue through more taxation – to spend taxpayer dollars to help out “local rapid response teams” to somehow get out and oppose ICE law enforcement? Is that about it? Wow. That’s rich.
Pandering for votes Wendy? And looking to encouraged more absurd physical altercations out there (by someone of course, not you) with the Feds? Buena suerte con eso.
BASIC LIAR – Where did the article state she wanted to use taxpayer money for rapid response teams? You wanted Kristy Noem to spend $300 mil on planes nobody wanted and the Pentagon is its own printing press with barstool Pete. Kash getting hammered with the Olympic hockey team buzzing around on government jets. But you don’t want to talk about the waste you voted for or the child r*****s you protect.
“Buena suerte con eso.” only a sick bigot would say something like that to a Latina.
GT, look who we’re talking about. you labeled him correctly
BASIC – she’s not reading this. You seem to think Gavin and all the liberal politicians you cry about, daily, are here reading your mindless rants. You literally come here to cry to no one, yet when others call you out and attempt to engage in dialogue/debate, you can’t hack it.
Maybe just keep the nonsense to yourself until you’re ready to actually man up and back your claims? Better yet, got patch up your dinghy. It’s going to be a nice weekend out there and I’m getting some fish while you sit here moaning about nothing. Have fun!
Of course not. It’s for their supporters, guys like you, that it’s directed at. So what do you think, like she apparently does, the SBPD and these “rapid response teams” do to oppose federal law enforcement? And, why should City taxpayers pay a penny for that when the fact is they cannot do anything other than scream, hold up signs, blow annoying whistles, and occasionally jump in to obstruct and then get put down on the ground? What “enforceable rules” as she calls them should the City enact against ICE? She provides none. She has none, that’s why. It’s a political stunt and it works for some voters.
So why do you say “pandering for votes Wendy?”
Probably because you’re desperate for attention and if she were to actually respond to you it would be the most meaningful event of 2026 for you. Lame.
shes a very very nice lady, met her a few times. she is the type to not associate with ppl like basic.
> It’s for their supporters, guys like you, that it’s directed at.
But we all think you’re lying fascistic trash with no scruples, so that’s not effective.
Basic- shows how little you know about law. A federal agent can be arrested by a city, or state police officer for assault, deploying pepper spray on unarmed unprovoked citizens, for extreme aggressive tactics that injure others and also a state charge of causing mayhem. Its law and its fact. PC 22810 & PC 244, PC 13652. Obstruction is a thin ridiculous line and it fails them in court time and time again. People are now filing law suits and winning, time and time again. Care to further debate this? I’ve done my homework and would love to deal with this once and for all Basic.
she is standing up for her community and her beliefs and those of the majority of us in the city/county. i’m sure you couldn’t even grasp that concept. probably totally foreign to you eh?
We are past due for a council with fewer preachers and more practitioners. As budget experts with more resources than most, we need you to open your homes to undocumented workers. Lead by example. Demonstrate your success. Cease being wannabe progressives!
It would be better for all of us if you ceased being a gullible fool.
Undocumented workers, unlike U.S. citizens, are almost never homeless. Because, unlike Americans, they know how to work. So, no need, but thanks for your concern.
Thank you for presenting your logic. Problem solved. Perhaps I am a fool. I didn’t realize everyone could move to Santa Barbara, pick up a job, and acquire subsidized public services. All done with no resulting budget deficits.
You made a suggestion in bad faith to solve a problem that doesn’t exist based in a bigoted and xenophobic perspective which has been totally discredited, i.e., undocumented workers are a net drag on the economy and our public resources. False. You’ve been educated.
Kapono changed his screen name.
GT – nah, at least TRANS can write a coherent, albeit moronic, sentence without using AI. A KAPO comment is very distinct in its childishness, poor spelling/grammar and outright laziness of thought.
Yes I see now – and very incel-like.
Alex, that is the best post all week. thank you and that is a fact folks. i walk all over this town. i see the drunks, the junkies and the mentally tweaked vagrants. They are white people. I do not see, and I live down near the waterfront where they all congregate, any hispanics. All whites. In fact, being in this town for decades, i don’t ever recall seeing hispanic junkies, drunks or homeless, just whites. That’s gotta be upsetting for bigots like Basic…..i mean, take a look inside our for profit prison system. whites are the majority
Your argument is racism is not objectively immoral. Instead, we need to better identify whom to apply racism towards.
TRANS – where is KNEIN being racist? While there are some latinos that are drunks and drug users, the vast majority seen around town are white. That’s not racist, that’s an objective observation.
Besides, it’s impossible to be “racist” towards white people. Discriminatory yes, but not racist. Big difference. Learn it.
“I do not see, and I live down near the waterfront where they all congregate, any hispanics. All whites.” A subjective observation is an interpretation or assessment influenced by an observer’s personal feelings, experiences, beliefs, or opinions rather than purely factual evidence. Objectivity would require breaking down the population by race, then demonstrating certain demographics exceed the expected per capita rate, as a means to provide factual evidence. Racism: a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.
It’s easy to look around the room and pick out who won’t be practicing procreation this weekend.
TRANS – again, observing that is not racist. How do you know KNEIN saw anything differently? Objectivity in this sense is used to indicate that, based on what they see, those are the facts. If I see multiple dogs, I do not need to break anything down further to objectively state that I see multiple dogs.
As for your racism definition, that’s exactly why you can’t really be racist towards whites or “reverse racism” as the MAGAts and other trash like to say. The centuries of oppression by whites based on a perceived superiority negates the ability to use discrimination as an oppressive measure.
Now, I can say all that and proudly proclaim I did not lift any passages or use any AI in my comment. YOU, on the other hand, CANNOT. You plagiarised your definition of racism from the Merriam Webster site here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism
What’s worse is that you cherry picked and conveniently left out the additional definitions for the word which support what I said about reverse racism.
Now, since we’ve established you are A CHEAT, we can all go ahead and dismiss you as, like ALEX said, you’ve been schooled.
Maybe GT was right….. KAPO does like to rely on unattributed quotes (plagiarism) and AI to try to sound “smart.” That you, PO?
Logic failure. He said that all the drunks are white, not that all whites are drunks. The latter is racism; the former is not.
The argument here was that undocumented immigrants are hard workers. You deflected that, turning it into a debate about whether K9 is racist. How did that happen?
Answer: BAD FAITH. Your every comment reeks of it.
More worthless bad faith trash to ignore.
What’s even the “debate”? Wendy is pissed and wants the City and PD to do something they cannot do? Stomp all ya want ma’am. Ain’t going nowhere. Political games from her. She needs votes. Reminds me of Jazmin Crocket. All noise.
Ah, yes, another woman that you hate.
Jasmine Crockett JD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine_Crockett) is a better human being than you in every possible way.
Checked back in to reply and now feel devastated after being called bad words, insulted, and demeaned by a plethora of erudite commenters. Instead, please allow me to cite two recent news reports related to the city and county budgets: “For the next fiscal year, which will start July 1, the city staff is projecting a revenue of $250 million, expenditures of $264 million, and a $14.6 million budget deficit” (Noozhawk 3/2/26). “In a nutshell, the supervisors are staring down the double-barrel end of a $66 million deficit. Though it will be spread out over the next five years, it will not be as gradual as that sounds. The next two budget years are by far the worst, accounting for more than $50 million in cuts” (Independent 3/4/26). Are there specific programs you feel should be cut? If not, is there a specific tax increase you advocate? I humbly request further education. I would ask the council and supervisors directly, but they seem too busy with bad name-calling. By the way, Mr. Mayor, what’s ignoble about being a mall cop?
Which has nothing to do with undocumented workers.
The below written statement was given by City Administrator Kelly McAdoo during the January 28, 2025, Regular Council Meeting.”The Santa Barbara Police Department and our City government remain steadfast in providing, and making accessible, services to all of our community members, regardless of immigration status.”
And that has nothing to do with a budgetary shortfall. I know, you are going to posit that any city employee responding to any issue that involves an undocumented worker costs money–and you are correct.
However, your underlying premise, that undocumented workers are a net negative driver for the budget is false.
Assuming that you believe that their not being here would result in a healthier city budget, I can definitively inform you that the loss of tax revenue that would come with the disappearance of that population would in fact increase the budgetary shortfall due to a decrease in tax revenue.
You’ve been schooled.
“I can definitively inform you that the loss of tax revenue that would come with the disappearance of that population would in fact increase the budgetary shortfall due to a decrease in tax revenue.” You are definitively informing me of your opinion, which I respect,; however, you have not provided any data to demonstrate your statement is a fact.
I don’t need to provide you with any evidence. A fair amount of work has been done on the overall economic and tax revenue impacts of undocumented workers. If you’re interested, I invite you to seek out these works and educate yourself.
You won’t.
TRANS – what is the purpose of that quote in furthering your argument? Is that your “proof” that they cost us more money? Do you think undocumented immigrants should be denied government services and first responders during an emergency to save the City money?
You say it’s costing us to have undocumented immigrants, yet you ignore the taxes they pay, which in many cases are without benefit to them.
Care to elaborate on that?
I really don’t care to elaborate because this is not a safe space for appeals to logic. But I would like to summarize what I wrote. I cited the city’s policy towards providing services. I cited the existing shortfall between service costs and existing tax revenue. I questioned what services may be cut and what taxes may be increased. I suggested a solution: if our local government does not have sufficient funds for continued services and does not want to increase the tax burden, then we can ask individuals to provide additional expenditures directly or through charity. I advocated to begin by providing private expenditures directly to undocumented workers. You responded by suggesting this advocacy for increasing benefits to undocumented workers was “moronic.”
> this is not a safe space for appeals to logic
Look, you can’t engage in ridiculous trolling about sharia law and people opening their homes and then pretend that you’re strictly about logic … first impressions matter and you’re now in the bad guy box.
TRANS – “I really don’t care to elaborate because this is not a safe space for appeals to logic”
So you refuse to backup your claim.
Typical. We already know you’re a cheat, but we can add lazy to the list now.
“this is not a safe space for appeals to logic”
You write like someone who is not educated in composition, like someone who is simply a wordsmith that reads Breitbart daily and tries to regurgitate the angry conservative nonsense from the cesspool of the far-right algorithm. There is a noticeable difference between those that are well written and those that force other people’s words together to make a sewage omelet. Paragraphs like yours are like swallowing a rose bush . It’s like reading while someone throws glass chips in your eyes. As for a safe space – the F your feelings crowd will never deserve mercy in a public forum.
TRANS – what “bad name-calling” are you talking about in regards to the council and supes? Are they insulting you?
“Checked back in to reply and now feel devastated after being called bad words, insulted, and demeaned by a plethora of erudite commenters.” Just wait, it’s still early in the day too!
“The city attorney explained that federal law does not allow local police to arrest federal agents for performing their duties.”
You mean local police cannot interfere with matters outside their jurisdiction and not interfere with legally issued judge warrants? Imagine that. But apparently the public does, which causes the problems.
People refusing to let our judicial system work, taking matters into their own hands and obstructing and interfering with law enforcement.
Rebellion? Revolution ? Civil war?
“Reaffirming Santa Barbara’s commitment to protecting residents regardless of their immigration status.”
Even criminsks are welcomed by SB, look at the list of those arrested. Child predators, human traffickers. Yes the dui guys too. Driving is a privilege.
Regardless of whether they committed a criminal act.
For starters, intentionally bypassing legal immigration procedures and entering the country illegally is a criminal offense punishable with jail per the law.
80% of immigrants follow this country’s legal immigration process. Yet we protect the 20% who choose to cheat, lie, and cut the line. And then we subsidize the criminsks. $31 billion from CA taxpayers.
And locally they want to increase your taxes, again. Our local government has spent hundreds of thousands defending those who break federal immigration laws and expect you to pay for it.
Why?
That does not seem fair.
If the laws no longer matter, then remove them. But that has not happened.
If you don’t agree with a law, then change the law.
Otherwise you invalidate every law that people choose not to agree with.
So is there a list of laws the cool kids do not need to obey? Or is it any law we choose on that day?
Are you really that gullible and clueless?
SBLETS – “So is there a list of laws the cool kids do not need to obey? ”
Yes, according to mindless MAGAts like you, the list of crimes white people who look and think like you or simply pay the POTUS don’t need to obey laws against:
– r***
– child r***
– sexual assault
– beating and killing police officers
– insurrection
– business fraud
– perjury
– drug trafficking
– drug dealing
– drug manufacturing
– murder
– any court orders
Oh and child r***, once again, just to remind you what you are OK with.
I’m sure there’s even more laws they’re allowed to break with no consequence, but that’s the gist for now.
I didn’t read all this … was it something about chemtrails?