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ICE Arrests Five Across San Mateo County in One Day, Part of a 10-Day Enforcement Surge
Federal immigration agents detained five people at locations from East Palo Alto to San Mateo on Tuesday, as community groups report at least 16 detentions in the county over the past 10 days and daily ICE presence outside the main jail.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made five arrests across San Mateo County on Tuesday, according to alerts from the county's Rapid Response Hotline and the Office of Community Affairs, in what immigrant rights advocates describe as a sharp escalation of enforcement activity on the Peninsula.
The arrests unfolded over a six-hour span. In East Palo Alto, agents detained one person around 6 a.m. at a Chevron gas station and another at 9:45 a.m. on Woodland Avenue. A third arrest occurred at 10 a.m. in the parking lot shared by a Dollar Tree and a Home Depot in San Carlos. Two more people were taken into custody in the city of San Mateo â one at 7:45 a.m. at Chavez Supermarket and another at 11 a.m. on South Idaho Street.
The Rapid Response Hotline is operated by Faith in Action Bay Area, a coalition of immigrant rights activists that connects people affected by immigration enforcement to legal and community resources. The group confirmed the arrests and said it has identified and activated emergency legal support for those detained and is in contact with their families. The San Mateo County Office of Community Affairs also circulated a notice of the arrests.
According to Faith in Action Bay Area, ICE activity in the county has risen recently, with at least 16 people detained in the past 10 days. The group also reported additional arrests on Monday: one early in the morning at Hopkins Avenue and El Camino Real in Redwood City, another around 8 a.m. at a laundromat near a Safeway in Half Moon Bay, and a third at Eighth and Main streets in Montara, near Half Moon Bay.
The organization said ICE has maintained a visible presence outside the San Mateo County main jail, the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City, every day since Friday.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Faith in Action Bay Area is urging residents to call the Rapid Response Hotline immediately at 203-666-4472 if they witness ICE activity. Additional resources are available through the county's website at smcgov.org.
The arrests come amid heightened national attention to immigration enforcement in the Bay Area, including the recent detention of a University of San Francisco professor that sparked outrage and calls for release. For Peninsula communities with large immigrant populations, the cluster of arrests in public spaces â grocery stores, gas stations, shopping centers and laundromats â has raised concerns about enforcement tactics that advocates say make routine errands feel unsafe.