ICE Launches 'Operation Safe California' Enforcement Surge Beginning in San Diego, Sources Say

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has launched a 45-day immigration enforcement operation across California that began in and around San Diego, according to sources familiar with the plan who spoke to the Washington Examiner.

The operation, known internally as "Operation Safe California," has not been publicly announced by the Department of Homeland Security. DHS would not confirm or deny the operation when asked on Wednesday, stating that ICE does not discuss law enforcement operations for the safety and security of employees.

According to the sources, the operation began several days ago and is expected to last at least 45 days. Officers based in San Diego, supplemented by personnel from ICE's Los Angeles and San Francisco field offices, will work their way north through Los Angeles and up to San Francisco by November.

"Management want numbers," one source told the Examiner in a text message. A second source said officers were "told to go after anybody, they can pick up anybody," meaning illegal immigrants without criminal records will also face arrest and deportation proceedings.

A DHS spokesperson pointed to recent ICE arrests in California, including a Jamaican man convicted of drug trafficking and homicide, a Mexican man convicted of homicide and drug sales, and a South Korean man convicted of homicide.

All California ICE units have been placed back on mandatory six-day workweeks, and previously approved leave has been canceled for the duration of the operation, according to the sources.

The operation comes as California operates under the California Values Act (SB 54), a state law that limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. ICE has treated that restriction as justification for increased street arrests, courthouse arrests, and workplace enforcement actions.

The surge also comes roughly one month before the November midterm elections and follows similar targeted enforcement operations in Minnesota, Illinois, New York, and Oregon.

A DHS spokesperson said the department "enforces the law every day" and declined further comment on the operation.