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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OXNARD, Calif. (KEYT) – On Oct. 16 of last year, Leo Martinez, an activist with local immigrant rights group VC Defensa, was recording federal immigration operations when agents drove their vehicle into truck he was driving, claimed he had hit them, and then took him into custody. Videos, images, and accounts that came out the
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Below is an op-ed from Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown regarding immigration. Last week at the U. S. Capitol, in one of my final duties as president of the Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA), I presented Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota with our organization’s Legislator of the Year Award for her commitment to public
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GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) – Around 10:40am Tuesday morning, students from San Marcos High School organized a planned walkout, protesting federal immigration policies and actions. The peaceful protest took place on various streets in Goleta. Students held signs and waved both American and Latin American flags in solidarity with the immigrant community. The students were supported
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The Santa Maria City Council approved an official resolution on Tuesday night that expresses the city’s support for immigrant residents of Santa Maria.
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—What started out as a press conference turned into a rally as hundreds of high school students from Santa Barbara High and Santa Barbara Junior High marched toward the courthouse Friday. Three other junior high schools from Goleta Valley, La Colina and La Cumbre also all held walkouts. They held signs with slogans
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