SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Rep. Salud Carbajal talked about winning his re-election campaign and what’s next following a night of celebrating with fellow Democrats. The Congressman scheduled a morning call online to take questions from local journalists. He spoke about Sable Offshore that has restarted oil and gas production off the Gaviota Coast in
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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents spent more than four hours Monday inside the lobby of the Santa Barbara County jail. They chose not to comment, but could be heard discussing agitators over a walkie-talkie device. Members of S.B. Resiste said they call themselves observers and used their phones to record
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Santa Maria city leadership issued a public address, joining county and state lawmakers in condemning the federal detention of a citizen student. Local advocates say it’s about time more leaders publicly condemn ICE activities like this. On October 21st, federal officers detained and injured a 20-year-old U.S. citizen and special education
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OXNARD, Calif. (KEYT) — It’s been a stressful couple weeks for Leo Martinez, an Oxnard-based activist and VC Defensa volunteer who was detained by ICE after they rammed into his pick up truck last Thursday. “These ICE agents are brutal in the way that they act when nobody’s watching. So to see them do this,
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Santa Maria Police confirm federal immigration or ICE officers are responsible for an incident involving a Santa Maria High School student. Video surveillance footage confirming the incident has been turned over to investigators. It happened early Wednesday morning. 20-year old Erik Zepeda says ICE agents detained and injured him while
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – A rapid response network led by the non-profit 805 Undocufund has scheduled a press conference today at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Santa Maria. The announcement follows the brief detention and release of organization volunteer Alexandra “Lexi” by immigration officers earlier in the day. The organization
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CARPINTERIA, Calif. — A Halloween costume giveaway intended to bring joy to children from low-income families drew just 16 children this year, a sharp decline from previous years. The family behind the event believes fears surrounding immigration enforcement kept many families home. Two years ago, the giveaway served 200 children. That number dropped to 100
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LOMPOC, Calif. (KEYT) – Immigrant rights supporters and local residents assembled in Lompoc for a protest directed at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The demonstration follows increased ICE operations this week that led to dozens of local arrests. Local nonprofit 805 Undocufund reported that federal authorities took at least 34 people into custody between Monday
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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – The Trump administration has yet to slow down on its mass deportation tactics, and reports say Immigration and and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests have hit a record high amount, including several right here on the Central Coast. Undocumented residents across the Central Coast have faced a surge of ICE
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CARPINTERIA, Calif. (KEYT) July 10th marked the one year anniversary of the Glass House Farms ICE raids. People marched four miles to the cannabis growers greenhouses in Carpinteria on Saturday. Activists and concerned citizens said they didn’t want the anniversary of the raids in Carpinteria and Camarillo to go unnoticed. During the Camarillo raid farmworker Jaime Alanis Garcia,
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CARPINTERIA, Calif. – State and local leaders gathered in Carpinteria Thursday to celebrate the restoration of $15 million in California’s 2026–27 budget for the Children’s Holistic Immigration Representation Project, or CHIRP, a program that provides free legal representation and case management for unaccompanied immigrant children. Assemblymember Gregg Hart announced the funding alongside the Santa Barbara
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) — Questions about the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office’s interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took center stage Tuesday during the county’s annual Truth Act forum. The meeting, required under California law, gives the public and county leaders an opportunity to review how local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – The wife of a Santa Maria man has been released from a Texas immigration detention facility today after weeks of detainment. Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar, a Venezuelan native, along with her five-year-old daughter were detainment by federal officers back in April as they were about to board a flight to Santa Maria
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – ‘Powerful Voices, Purposeful Change – Women Leading Through Civic Engagement.’ That was the theme of this year’s 18th Annual Women of Achievement Awards Luncheon at the Cabrillo Pavilion. Every year, the organization celebrates the women who make big impacts in their local communities. Hundreds turned out for Thursday afternoon luncheon,
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Farmworkers in Santa Maria are participating in the May Day labor boycotts and marches happening across the state. They’re campaigning at City Hall for a base wage of $26 per hour. Representatives of Alianza Campesina, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), and the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) say
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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) —The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has approved a series of measures aimed at addressing concerns around immigration enforcement, including new protections tied to elections and limits on enforcement activity on county property. In a set of votes held Tuesday in Santa Maria, the board approved all three components
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Santa Barbara City Council voted in favor of an updated resolution to re-affirm the city’s response to ICE. The 6-1 vote followed a couple of hours of discussion. The resolution promotes community safety, diversity and public trust in response to Federal Immigration Enforcement. Mayor Randy Rowse voted against the plan
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – A Santa Maria man has been reunited with his five-year-old daughter who was held in an ICE detention facility for 20 hours with her mom. His wife remains in holding in Texas. Milenko Faria moved to Santa Maria in 2017 after fleeing Venezuela, and his asylum case is pending after
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GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) – It’s playtime at the LEAP Children’s Center in Goleta. Kids are concentrating on having fun. That’s what you’d expect at a children’s center. But after a mother spotted immigration agents outside her home in Santa Barbara, she brought her preschooler to LEAP. “He wouldn’t let go of his mother‘s legs, and
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CARPINTERIA, Calif. (KEYT) – A Carpinteria videographer is turning the lens on his own community following recent ICE activity. Larry Nimmer is shifting his “Everyone Has a Story” series to focus on immigration experiences in Santa Barbara County. The project includes more than 25 interviews with residents, workers, and advocates. He says the goal is
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