Major ICE operation underway across California: ‘Go after anybody’

EXCLUSIVE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has launched a month and a half-long immigration enforcement operation across the sanctuary state of California, going after both the “worst of the worst” and noncriminal illegal immigrants, according to sources familiar with the plan.The crackdown, known internally as Operation Safe California, has not been publicly announced, but it began several days ago in and around San Diego, which borders Mexico, and is expected to last at least 45 days. ICE leadership has told officers to arrest all illegal immigrants they encounter, regardless of whether an individual has a criminal history.“Management want numbers,” the first source wrote in a text message on Wednesday. A second person said officers were “told to go after anybody, they can pick up anybody,” meaning illegal immigrants who do not have a criminal record in the U.S. will still be taken into custody and face deportation proceedings.The move comes just one month ahead of the midterm elections, and the decision to focus ICE resources throughout the sanctuary state is the latest effort by the Trump administration to unleash ICE in a blue state following surges to Minnesota, Illinois, New York, and Oregon.Officers in San Diego and others sent down from ICE’s Los Angeles and San Francisco offices will work their way north through Los Angeles and up to San Francisco by November. The operation will rely on far fewer federal police than were sent in to assist with the two-month-long enforcement operation in Minnesota last winter, sources said.The second official said this effort is not very different than what ICE does every day outside of formal operations like this one, except that it is bringing in additional officers to focus on smaller areas at once.“They’re going to highlight the serious criminals they get. There will be press releases, how many they arrest, the most egregious,” the official said. “The challenge may be San Francisco. There may be more pushback. … More liberal than LA.”Although all of California is covered under state policy that forbids local and state police from helping ICE carry out federal immigration responsibilities, ICE sees San Francisco as the most unfriendly of the three regions it is targeting.Many ICE officers in California have been working six-day weeks for months, only briefly returning to five-day weeks at the end of summer. All units were informed ahead of the statewide operation that they would be returning to mandatory six-day workweeks until further notice. All previously approved time off requests have been canceled.ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection both flooded the Los Angeles region in July 2025 as part of a targeted effort to arrest illegal immigrants. Activists and rioters quickly descended downtown, leading to altercations between federal immigration officers and the public.DOJ STRIPS CITIZENSHIP FROM 40 ALLEGED CRIMINALSThe Department of Homeland Security would not confirm or deny Operation Safe California when asked about it on Wednesday afternoon, but stated that ICE cannot disclose or discuss law enforcement operations for the operational safety and security of employees.A DHS spokesperson said DHS enforces the law every day and pointed to recent illegal immigrant arrests in California, including a Jamaican man convicted of drug trafficking, homicide, and drug possession; a Mexican man convicted of homicide, burglary, and selling three types of illegal drugs; and a South Korean man convicted of homicide.