Escondido community members continue rallying against city's contract with ICE

For the past 12 years, the Escondido Mariachi Festival has been a welcome celebration of Mexican culture in the community. The event was held Sunday at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. According to the organizers, the festival is the only one of its kind in the North County, and helps raise money for youth education and programs.

However, just outside the venue, the Escondido Democratic Party played a much different tune.

“The community are hurting, the community is crying for help,” said Maria Wallace with the Escondido Democratic Party.

Wallace is concerned about the city’s contract with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE, that allows them to use the city’s 22-acre police training facility located outside of city limits. The agreement is the second extension of a contract that began in 2024.

The Escondido Police Department previously told NBC 7 that similar contracts have been established with DHS since 2013. However, some community members believe that things have changed dramatically under the Trump administration that warrant action.

“This new breed of ICE agents — I hate to call them agents — are not vetted, they’re not trained,” said Georgina Tomasi, the President of the Escondido Democratic Party. “It diminishes their credibility and their training as police officers. We’re not anti-police, we want policing here in the city of Escondido. But we want trained, professional people,” Tomasi added.

Protesters specifically called out Escondido City Councilmember Joe Garcia, who represents district two. He attended Sunday’s festival.

“How can you be for the people or saying that you’re so concerned about your Latino community when you’re voting against, to keep the contract,” said Wallace.

During a February 25 City Council meeting, Councilmember Consuelo Martinez introduced a motion to dissolve the contract. However, none of her colleagues seconded it, so the council never voted on the proposal.

“I stayed away from providing a second so this would go to a vote simply because I believe that if we did this, we are going to make Escondido a mini-Minneapolis and I do not want that,” said Councilmember Garcia.

Garcia said he shares the community’s concerns about ICE, but believes that the situation is being misrepresented by some members of the community. “The reality is is that if you agree or disagree with what’s happening, the fear is real,” said Garcia.

The Escondido Democratic Party believes there’s more at stake for the community than solely public safety.

“It diminishes their credibility and their training as police officers,” said Tomasi. “We’re not anti-police, we want policing here in the city of Escondido but we want trained, professional people,” Tomasi added.

Regardless of who may come to see eye to eye, the contract is in place for now. It is set to run through January 2027 and will be up for renewal in October 2026.