City councilmembers to vote on resolution opposing ‘excessive' ICE tactics
The San Diego City Council will vote on a resolution during their meeting on Monday to oppose what some councilmembers described as “unnecessarily aggressive and excessive tactics” by federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
If approved, the resolution would allow the City Attorney to join lawsuits filed against the Trump administration by Minnesota and Illinois on the city’s behalf. The lawsuits, filed separately last month, claim that the Trump administration violated the 10th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
City councilmember Marni Von Wilpert, who is running for California’s 48th district in the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms, is spearheading the resolution alongside Councilmembers Sean-Elo Rivera and Vivian Moreno.
While the resolution wouldn’t necessarily make any grand changes, American Friends Service Committee Director, Pedro Rios, said that it would put San Diego on the record for opposing ICE’s tactics during recent immigration operations.
“It puts San Diego on the map of being in opposition to these violent immigration arrests that we’ve been seeing around the country and in San Diego,” said Rios. “It’s an important step forward because it ensures that their residents, their constituents, are hearing how the city council is supporting them,” Rios added.
Government data analyzed by Calmatters showed a nearly 1,500% increase in the number of arrests in 2025 from May to October, compared to the same time period in 2024. Rios has witnessed this statistic play out with his own eyes around San Diego.
“A few months ago we might have heard of two or three cases during a week period, now we’re hearing of cases on a daily basis,” said Rios.
An analysis published in January from University of California Berkeley researchers found a sevenfold increase in arrests of people with no prior convictions during the first nine months of the Trump administration.
Rios, who has worked closely with the immigrant community for years, has noticed changes in how federal immigration officials conduct arrests.
“The government is leaning more toward the snatch and grab operations because they’re able to detain people without needing a warrant,” said Rios. “It’s based simply on someone’s skin color, appearance, if they speak Spanish or another language that’s not English, and that’s how they get apprehended,” Rios added.
Councilmembers will decide whether to potentially join in the legal battle against the Trump administration’s immigration operations during their meeting scheduled for Monday at 2 p.m.
