The LA Ten Four

_{San Diego City Council convenes for their afternoon session on February 2, 2026 (Jake Lee Green / Aeon Photo Co.)}

By Jake Lee Green

Jake Lee Green is the former Managing Editor of the Kern Valley Sun and contributor to the Kern Valley Independent. He is a freelance photojournalist working under contract with ZUMA Press, SIPA USA, NEWS2SHARE, and a regular contributor to FreedomNews TV. His work has appeared via wire services including the Associated Press, Reuters, Europa Press, and Kyodo News Agency.

He reports on labor, social justice, indigenous rights, crime, culture, and far-right militancy, with a focus on fringe movements and underreported communities. His venmo can be found here.

San Diego, CA – During a Feb. 2, 2026 afternoon City Council session in San Diego, residents   weighed in on Item #608 that would oppose “unnecessarily aggressive and excessive tactics used by federal immigration enforcement authorities.” San Diego residents and Councilmembers shared frustration with increased deportations in the San Diego area; one councilmember called to abolish the federal agencies responsible entirely.

The resolution empowers San Diego City Attorney Heather Ferbert to take legal action on behalf of the City such as submitting amicus briefs to support Minnesota and Illinois in ongoing litigation against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies.

Councilmembers Marni Von Wilpert, Sean Elo-Rivera and Vivian Moreno championed the resolution; they  were visibly shaken while speaking. Wilpert stated “[DHS] is not law enforcement.” She further said that federal agents with Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) and DHS often call 9-11 to seek support from the San Diego Police Department (SDPD). Those calls, she said,  puts a strain on local law enforcement resources. 

Elo-Rivera said  “reform is not a serious answer, talking about DHS and ICE.” He elaborated, saying ICE as an agency should be dismantled.

“No wonder people have lost faith in them”, stated Councilmember Jennifer Campbell in regards to DHS. 

Councilmember Henry L. Foster III began his remarks on the item by making a bold hypothetical,stating it would be a shame for the San Diego Police Chief to receive a call regarding an injury of one of their officers “by what we think are well-trained ICE officers.” He continued, saying officers from ICE and DHS are “not qualified, they have shown that.” Foster III encouraged a more definitive policy attached to the resolution that would separate SDPD from ICE operations and made note of confusion in the eyes of the public. 

Foster III stated some months ago he approached a traffic stop where SDPD appeared to be helping ICE operations near Market and 43rd. He said he approached an SDPD officer conducting the stop and identified himself as the Fourth District Councilmember. Foster III claimed the officer “basically ignored me,” even after the Councilman made clear he would directly contact SDPD Police Chief Scott Wahl. Foster III said he then called Chief Wahl to gather information about the traffic operation in an attempt to quell public fears that the local PD was engaging in ICE operations. The outcome of which was less than definitive. 

SDPD Public Information Officer Lieutenant Cesar Jimenez, and is a liaison to the San Diego Hispanic community, is himself an immigrant who moved from Mexico at 17 years-old. Lieutenant Jimenez stated sharply during the meeting via Zoom that “[SDPD] do not take part in any immigration laws,” and mentioned that they do not ask constituents of the city their documentation status. 

 _{Vivian Moreno speaks about Item #608 regarding federal overreach and ICE abuses during the afternoon session of the San Diego City Council meeting on February 2, 2026 (Jake Lee Green / Aeon Photo Co.)}

114 residents across the city overwhelmingly commented in support of the resolution. Only two opposed. The two in opposition both falsely made accusations that all current detainees of federal agents have prior criminal records; a statistic that has been challenged by media and data trackers monitoring immigrant detainees. 

A woman who simply went by the moniker “The Original” told those attending the meeting “you guys don’t seem to care.” Later, she said that those there “don’t want ICE to do their job, and if they were, then the children that were murdered in San Diego County as well as raped in their own bedroom wouldn’t have been.”  Data currently collected reflects that 73.6% of immigrants in ICE detention do not have criminal records with many only having minor traffic infractions.

The San Diego City Council stuck together; voting unanimously to pass the resolution and reaffirm a desire to distinguish local law enforcement from federal immigration policy. 

Councilmember Raul Campillo said during the meeting he felt ICE agents sought to use administrative warrants as a way to evade constitutional law and that those tactics were an insult and infringement on citizens rights. He stated that the tactics used by these federal agencies “is not true law enforcement because it doesn’t make us safer and it is an overreach of government power.”

_{A photo depicting a man in indigenous garb underneath an exit sign on the 12th floor of the San Diego City Hall Chambers in San Diego, California. (Jake Lee Green / Aeon Photo Co.)}