Encinitas votes in favor of restrictions on ICE presence amid escalation

The Encinitas City Council voted unanimously to move forward with six measures aimed to protect the community and increase transparency from the federal government amid an escalation in immigration enforcement actions. 

The vote came just before 1 a.m. Thursday after nearly 30 speakers urged the city to take action in a moment that many said would be in history books. Residents have been calling on the council to take more action as enforcement efforts have escalated in recent weeks, and Councilmember Joy Lyndes put it on Wednesday night’s agenda. Organizers also held a vigil before the meeting for Día de los Muertos to honor those who have died or been otherwise impacted due to immigration enforcement actions. 

Ana Lange, one of the organizers of the vigil, told councilmembers during public comment that they needed to protect residents. She also invited them to join her 5 a.m. patrol of the neighborhood to see the trauma firsthand. 

“You have the power to stand with your community,” Lange said. “You have the power to protect your residents within the limits of your authority. 

“You have the power to make it clear that Encinitas will not stand silently while immigrant families are torn apart.”

The vote means the city will look into laws restricting the use of city property and immigration enforcement near schools. It also will develop a public reporting system, build a network connecting people with resources and connect the city with local groups that already conduct immigration patrols. City Manager Jennifer Campbell also said the city would create a streamlined immigration email and put more resources on its website like some other cities. 

Mayor Bruce Ehlers said he and other North County mayors have met with U.S. Rep. Mike Levin and federal agents and that it has been difficult to get compliance on records requests and other reports. 

“We will get to the bottom of the facts, and I think that’s our job here as a local authority,” Ehlers said. “We are not the federal authorities, and unfortunately, I can’t completely compel them. But I can at least look for facts and try and see where any party is misrepresenting. And I do believe at this point there is some misrepresentation going on by the federal authorities, and I want to stop it.”

‘Bad to horrible’

Speakers said Wednesday that there has been a dramatic increase in immigration enforcement actions in recent weeks, and it was critical that the City Council take further action. 

The City Council voted unanimously in September 2025 to pursue several measures, including filing records requests with federal agencies to document immigration arrests in the city and  coordinating a “Know Your Rights” campaign with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

Lyndes said that action had not been enough. 

“This is time sensitive because things have escalated in our community,” she said. “Masked agents in unmarked cars are pursuing and apprehending our neighbors, and you have spoken up, and that’s why we’re here tonight.”

Mali Woods-Drake, who runs the nonprofit Encinitas4Equality, said her organization has supported 42 local families impacted by immigration enforcement in the past 15 months. Seven of those families had a relative detained in the past two and a half weeks.

Ehlers agreed that he had seen an uptick. 

“It has gone from bad to horrible,” he said. 

Several speakers compared the current situation to Nazi Germany, and implored councilmembers not to be silent. 

“Don’t keep being the people that turn your heads as our neighbors are dragged away,” Encinitas resident Jeremy Ross said. “This will be your legacy. How do you want to be remembered?”

A representative who spoke on behalf of Levin, a Democrat, said that the congressman was “deeply concerned” about the ongoing immigration enforcement operation in North County communities. 

“Reports have indicated that (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents are being instructed to conduct sweeping enforcement operations targeting individuals regardless of their criminal history,” the statement said. “This is extremely disturbing and wrong. Hardworking people who contribute to our communities follow the law and have no criminal records should not be subject to indiscriminate immigration enforcement.”

Contentious meeting

The 12:45 a.m. vote came after a long, contentious council meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara attempted to have Lyndes’ agenda item removed from the agenda, calling it “redundant” and a “calculated political stunt.” No one seconded his motion and her agenda item went forward. 

O’Hara also made “points of order” during two of the speakers who mentioned him directly, saying they were “personal attacks.” The speakers were eventually allowed to continue. 

He and Councilmember Luke Shaffer initially seemed skeptical of Lyndes’ action item, but Ehlers and Councilmember Marco San Antonio expressed support. 

Though it is officially a nonpartisan body, Lyndes is the sole Democrat on the council and is often a minority vote. 

San Antonio said that while he stands by his prior statements that ICE is a “necessary evil,” he disagrees with the tactics the agency is using. 

“You guys are all important to me,” he said to the crowd. “The neighbors that are being taken, the neighbors that are being marginalized or made to feel scared in this community, I hate that for you.”

The crowd erupted in a standing ovation of gratitude and thanked the councilmembers when they cast their unanimous vote. 

“We love our neighbors,” Yusef Miller, the leader of the North County Equity and Justice Coalition, said during public comment prior to the vote. “They deserve compassion. They deserve some kind of support from their elected officials. Someone who can support them at church, at school, at their place of work.”