Federal immigration agents have reportedly launched a major enforcement operation beginning in San Diego and extending north toward Los Angeles and San Francisco, with officers instructed to arrest removable immigrants regardless of criminal history as the Trump administration intensifies enforcement in California ahead of the midterm elections.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Federal immigration authorities have reportedly begun a coordinated enforcement campaign across California that could continue into November, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers directed to arrest immigrants subject to deportation regardless of whether they have been convicted of criminal offenses.
The operation, identified internally as “Operation Safe California,” began in the San Diego area several days ago and is expected to continue for at least 45 days, according to people familiar with federal enforcement plans. The reported initiative includes expanded deployments, mandatory six-day workweeks for participating personnel and additional operations planned in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The Washington Examiner disclosed details of the operation Wednesday, Oct. 7, citing sources who described instructions from ICE leadership to increase arrests throughout the state, including among individuals without criminal convictions.
The Department of Homeland Security has declined to publicly confirm the operation’s existence, timetable or deployment details, citing the need to protect federal personnel and ongoing law enforcement activities.
The accounts nevertheless indicate that immigration agents are being directed to expand beyond an exclusive focus on individuals convicted of violent or serious crimes.
“Management want numbers,” one source familiar with the operation told the Washington Examiner.
Another source described instructions allowing officers to detain any removable immigrant encountered during enforcement activities, rather than limiting arrests to people with established criminal histories.
“Told to go after anybody; they can pick up anybody,” the source said.
The statements suggest that ICE leadership is emphasizing arrest volume as well as the removal of individuals with serious criminal convictions.
Federal immigration law permits certain noncitizens to be arrested and placed in removal proceedings even when they have no prior criminal convictions. However, an arrest still requires applicable legal authority, and individuals may be entitled to immigration hearings or other procedural protections depending on their circumstances.
The reported operation is beginning in Southern California before moving toward the state’s largest metropolitan areas.
San Diego, located along the U.S.-Mexico border, serves as the initial area of enforcement. Personnel assigned to ICE offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco are expected to participate as the operation expands northward.
The deployment is scheduled to extend into November, placing its concluding stages near the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Officials have not publicly identified an exact completion date or confirmed whether the reported 45-day period could be extended.
According to the sources, participating officers have been instructed to work six days each week, with previously approved time off canceled to accommodate the increased workload.
Such requirements suggest an extended enforcement effort involving existing regional personnel rather than a short-term operation focused on a single location.
The planned deployments are expected to involve fewer federal agents than those assigned to a previous immigration enforcement initiative in Minnesota, which became a major point of conflict between federal authorities and state officials.
Nevertheless, the operation’s reported geographical scope would place immigration enforcement teams in some of California’s most densely populated communities.
San Francisco is expected to present particular difficulties because of its sanctuary policies and the possibility of organized opposition to federal enforcement actions.
“The challenge may be San Francisco. There may be more pushback,” one source told the Washington Examiner.
The reference to potential resistance reflects previous disputes over immigration enforcement in cities where local officials have limited cooperation with federal authorities.
California has established statewide restrictions governing how state and local law enforcement agencies may assist federal immigration operations.
Those protections are commonly associated with Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act, which generally limits the use of state and local law enforcement resources for federal civil immigration enforcement.
The law, enacted in 2017, restricts certain forms of cooperation, including the use of local personnel to investigate or arrest individuals solely for civil immigration violations.
It also limits when state and local agencies may transfer individuals to federal immigration custody or provide information about their release from detention.
The restrictions contain exceptions, including provisions involving specified criminal convictions and other circumstances authorized under state law.
California’s sanctuary policies do not prohibit ICE from enforcing federal immigration statutes within the state.
Federal officers retain independent authority to conduct immigration investigations, make authorized arrests and initiate removal proceedings, subject to applicable constitutional and statutory limitations.
However, limits on cooperation with local police departments and detention facilities can require federal personnel to identify and locate individuals without the assistance available in jurisdictions that maintain broader immigration enforcement partnerships.
That distinction has become a central issue in California’s repeated legal and political disputes with President Donald Trump’s administration.
The administration has argued that sanctuary policies interfere with efforts to arrest and deport people who violate immigration laws, particularly individuals with serious criminal histories.
California officials have defended the restrictions as necessary to maintain public trust in local law enforcement and prevent state and municipal resources from being diverted into federal immigration operations.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic state leaders have frequently challenged federal immigration measures, including enforcement tactics, detention policies and efforts to condition government funding on cooperation with federal authorities.
The latest reported operation would therefore unfold within an established dispute over the responsibilities of federal and state governments in enforcing immigration laws.
The Department of Homeland Security has maintained that immigration officers are continuing arrests throughout California and other states, regardless of whether a particular operation has been formally announced.
In response to questions about Operation Safe California, DHS declined to confirm or deny the reported deployment.
The department cited operational security concerns and the safety of its personnel as reasons for withholding information about specific enforcement plans.
Federal officials instead pointed to recent arrests involving noncitizens convicted of serious offenses, including crimes against children, drug trafficking and other criminal activity.
On Tuesday, Oct. 6, DHS announced additional arrests of foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes, identifying Francisco Luperico-Jimenez among those taken into federal immigration custody.
Luperico-Jimenez, a Mexican national, was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts involving a child younger than 14 in Willows, California, according to the department.
The agency presented the arrest as an example of its continuing effort to remove noncitizens with serious criminal convictions.
The announcement also described enforcement activity involving offenses such as money laundering and narcotics trafficking.
The previous day, DHS identified several additional arrests involving convicted offenders, including two men whose criminal histories involved offenses committed in California.
Edwin Aroldo Curruchich-Quisque, a Guatemalan national, had been convicted of lewd or lascivious acts involving a child younger than 14 in San Mateo, according to the department.
Federal officials also identified Sergio Valencia-Uribe, a Mexican national convicted of possessing drugs for sale in Riverside.
Both arrests were included in DHS communications highlighting the criminal histories of individuals targeted by immigration enforcement personnel.
On Friday, Oct. 2, the department reported another series of arrests involving individuals convicted of sexual offenses and other serious crimes.
Among those identified was Jose Mendoza, a Mexican national convicted of sexual battery involving a minor in Red Bluff, California.
DHS has emphasized such cases while defending the administration’s broader immigration enforcement strategy, frequently using the phrase “worst of the worst” to describe individuals convicted of serious criminal offenses.
The department’s announcements establish that ICE continues to arrest noncitizens with criminal convictions in California, although they do not independently confirm that the arrests were part of Operation Safe California.
The publicly available information also does not establish how many individuals have been detained under the reported operation, how many have criminal records or how many have already been removed from the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has defended the administration’s enforcement priorities as an obligation imposed by federal immigration statutes.
“We don’t make the laws at DHS. We simply enforce them,” Mullin said in a statement.
The administration’s position is that immigration laws apply to removable noncitizens regardless of whether state or local officials support federal enforcement efforts.
That approach is consistent with the broader immigration agenda Trump has pursued since returning to the White House in January 2025.
The president has directed federal agencies to increase arrests, detention and deportations while expanding cooperation between ICE and participating local law enforcement organizations.
His administration has also sought to increase enforcement resources and accelerate proceedings involving individuals already subject to final removal orders.
The emphasis on individuals with serious criminal convictions has remained a prominent part of official messaging, although federal immigration authorities also possess legal mechanisms for pursuing certain people without criminal histories.
The distinction between criminal and civil immigration violations is significant.
Entering the country without authorization can constitute a federal criminal offense in specified circumstances, while overstaying a visa or otherwise violating immigration status requirements may primarily involve civil immigration law.
A noncitizen may therefore be removable under federal law without having been convicted of a crime.
Conversely, a criminal conviction does not automatically establish that a person is removable in every case. Immigration consequences depend on legal status, the nature of the offense and applicable statutory provisions.
Civil immigration detention is also distinct from punishment following a criminal conviction.
Federal authorities may detain certain individuals while determining whether they should be removed, but those proceedings remain subject to federal laws governing detention, immigration courts and judicial review.
The reported California operation appears designed to increase enforcement against both categories of individuals: those with criminal convictions and others who are subject to removal under immigration statutes.
That broader approach could produce disagreements over enforcement priorities, particularly in communities where local authorities have declined to participate in federal civil immigration operations.
California has previously experienced large demonstrations against immigration raids and the deployment of federal law enforcement personnel.
Past enforcement actions in Los Angeles have prompted criticism from community organizations, elected officials and legal advocates who questioned the scope of immigration arrests and the effect on families and local businesses.
Supporters of stricter enforcement have argued that immigration laws must be applied consistently and that refusing to cooperate with federal authorities can complicate the removal of individuals who pose public safety risks.
Opponents have raised concerns about the detention of longtime residents without criminal convictions, the separation of families and the potential for enforcement actions to discourage immigrants from contacting police or seeking essential services.
Those competing arguments are likely to remain relevant as the reported campaign moves through California’s major metropolitan areas.
Federal immigration officers have several methods for locating individuals who may be subject to removal.
These can include reviewing existing immigration records, identifying people with outstanding removal orders, conducting targeted investigations and making arrests during authorized enforcement operations.
In some circumstances, officers may encounter additional removable individuals while seeking a specific person.
Those encounters can lead to arrests of people who were not the original subjects of an investigation, depending on the officers’ legal authority and the facts involved.
The Washington Examiner’s sources indicated that the California initiative places particular emphasis on such enforcement opportunities.
However, the department has not publicly released written instructions explaining how officers participating in the operation should prioritize arrests or determine whether encountered individuals are legally subject to detention.
Nor has DHS provided a public breakdown of the staffing, funding or detention capacity assigned to the effort.
The reported cancellation of previously approved leave and establishment of six-day schedules indicate that ICE personnel are expected to maintain an increased operational tempo during the coming weeks.
Additional enforcement activity may also require greater coordination among field offices responsible for different parts of California.
The San Diego field office operates near one of the nation’s busiest international border regions, while Los Angeles and San Francisco oversee substantial populations across Southern and Northern California.
The movement of officers among those jurisdictions could allow federal authorities to concentrate personnel in specific areas before shifting resources to another region.
The sources did not disclose precisely how agents would be distributed or whether the operation would include additional personnel from outside California.
The prospect of expanded enforcement has particular significance in San Francisco, where municipal policies restricting cooperation with federal immigration authorities have been in place for decades.
The city has repeatedly defended its sanctuary approach, arguing that residents should be able to report crimes and interact with local officials without automatically triggering federal immigration enforcement.
Federal officials have maintained that local restrictions cannot prevent ICE from carrying out its responsibilities under national immigration law.
Those disagreements have previously resulted in litigation, public protests and disputes involving access to local detention facilities.
The latest campaign could renew those tensions if federal officers increase arrests in communities where cooperation from municipal agencies is limited.
The reported timeline also places the operation within the final weeks of the 2026 midterm election campaign.
Voters will decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives and numerous Senate, gubernatorial and state legislative contests Nov. 3.
Immigration enforcement has remained one of the principal issues dividing Republicans and Democrats nationally, with the Trump administration highlighting removals and border security while critics question the scope and implementation of federal operations.
The timing of the reported California deployment could bring additional attention to immigration policy during the closing stages of the campaign.
However, the existence of an operation extending through Election Day does not by itself establish that federal officials selected its dates for electoral purposes.
The Washington Examiner’s sources described the planned duration and geographical movement of enforcement teams but did not provide documentary evidence establishing a political motive for the schedule.
For California, the immediate questions concern the number of officers involved, the communities where arrests will occur and whether state and local authorities will challenge particular enforcement practices.
The Department of Homeland Security has not provided public answers to those operational questions.
What has been independently established is that ICE continues conducting arrests in California, including arrests of individuals with serious criminal convictions identified in the department’s recent announcements.
The additional claim that a coordinated 45-day statewide operation is underway rests on the Washington Examiner’s reporting and statements from people familiar with ICE plans.
If the reported timetable is followed, federal immigration personnel will continue enforcement activity in Southern California before shifting additional attention to Los Angeles and San Francisco during the weeks leading into November.
The operation would represent another significant test of the Trump administration’s efforts to expand immigration enforcement in jurisdictions where state and local governments have imposed restrictions on cooperation with federal authorities.
Whether the campaign results primarily in arrests of convicted criminals or produces substantial numbers of detentions involving people without criminal records will remain uncertain until ICE releases verified enforcement figures.
For now, federal officials are emphasizing their continuing arrests of serious offenders while declining to confirm the larger operation described by sources familiar with the agency’s plans.
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