Protesters clash with ICE officers outside the Monterey County Jail in Salinas.

Back in February of 2025, Deputy Monterey County Counsel Henry Smith circulated a memo to elected officials and department heads about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity, noting that the Board of Supervisors had declared Monterey County to be a “place of trust and safety for immigrants.”

The four-page memo included guidance on what to do if an ICE agent appeared on County property. “County employees are not required to speak or interact with federal law enforcement agents,” it read. If ICE officers arrived in any public areas, County staff were directed to notify a supervisor, but take no other action. If ICE requested access to any non-public area, “Employees may not help facilitate access.”

Over the next year-and-a-half, ICE activity remained relatively minimal in Monterey County, even as the agency, under direction of President Donald Trump and his administration, was active elsewhere in the country fulfilling a campaign promise to crack down on immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization.

On Sept. 29, 2026, the Board of Supervisors discussed further preemptive protections, guided mostly by a pending proposal by the agency to build a detention center in Santa Clara County. The board voted 5-0 to ban the construction of such facilities in Monterey County, and also to prohibit the use of county property for civil immigration enforcement activities.

Within weeks, that policy was tested. On Oct. 27, ICE agents posted up on the large County campus in Salinas that includes the Monterey County Jail, Natividad Medical Center, Juvenile Hall and various Health Department buildings. When the jail went into lockdown, meaning no inmates were being released, ICE left the area. County Supervisor Wendy Root Askew says she personally notified agents onsite about the policy prohibiting such activity. (Legal observers with Solidarity Network Monterey County Rapid Response confirmed one individual was detained on Tuesday, Oct. 27 while leaving a county health clinic.)

A week-and-a-half later, on Nov. 5, Monterey County Counsel Susan Blitch sent ICE a cease-and-desist letter, instructing the federal agency to end its use of County property for immigration enforcement activity. “Their operations also forced our jail to temporarily shut down last week,” she wrote. “ICE vehicles have also been seen driving with complete disregard to the safety of pedestrians in the area.” She alleged various parking violations by ICE, and also attached a copy of County Policy Number G-271, forbidding the use of County-owned property for civil immigration enforcement activity.

As of the Weekly’s deadline on Nov. 10, the agency had not responded, but a few hours after Blitch sent the letter, ICE officers were back in Salinas outside the jail. The Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail, again put the facility under temporary lockdown, meaning no new inmates were booked or released.

ICE was met with dozens of protesters who held a high-energy gathering to oppose the agency’s presence. They ordered pizza; through speakers, they played hip-hop, reggaeton and more.

“I come from an immigrant family and I will not allow ICE to come into our cities and terrorize our community,” says Lisa Navarro, a 35-year old Salinas resident and protester.

Navarro says ICE’s presence in Salinas hasn’t impacted her everyday life, but she has seen changes in her quieter neighborhood. “My neighbors are scared and I need to let them know that I’m here with them,” she says, noting youth soccer and football games she’s attended recently have had low attendance. “I’ve seen a lot of practices being canceled.”

The Salinas Regional Soccer Complex, on County-owned land, is across Constitution Boulevard from the campus where ICE has been active. The soccer complex is listed in County Counsel’s cease-and-desist letter, along with Natividad.

County officials have noted the proximity of these facilities could dissuade patients from seeking medical care. “This is incredibly disruptive from an intended intimidation strategy,” Root Askew says. “People are trying to heal 100 yards away from where we are. This is not OK. This is not safe.”

Celina Alejo, a mother of three who lives in Salinas, says in Spanish she showed up after work to join the demonstration. Alejo works as a medical interpreter at clinics in Salinas, primarily serving farmworkers.

“I’m here for them because I have a job thanks to them,” Alejo says.

She says her work has dropped in the past few days from a usual seven or eight interpretations per day to just one to three. “It affects me financially and affects me as a human being to watch injustice,” Alejo says.

The protest on Nov. 5 remained mostly peaceful, with momentary flare-ups of tension. “Please remain peaceful and look out for one another,” Patty Padilla-Salsberg, president of LULAC’s Salinas Chapter 3315 said in a statement. “The strength of our community shines when we stand together, raise our voices, and defend each other’s dignity and rights.”

ICE officials have not responded to a request for comment.

Sara Rubin contributed to this report.