Growing South Bay ICE Fears Lead to Surge in Immigrant Hotline Calls

Uncertainty and fear are rising in the diverse South Bay as federal immigration agents carry out increasingly brazen arrests across the state, according to local immigrant support networks.

The Rapid Response Network of Santa Clara County — a coalition that alerts communities to Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, observes and verifies immigration enforcement actions and informs people of their rights — has seen a major surge in phone calls to its regional hotline, officials said.

“With all of the increased enforcement activity we’re seeing across California, we are seeing an uptick in phone calls from our community,” said Jeremy Barousse, head of policy and organizing with Amigos de Guadalupe, one of the organizations comprising the network. “It’s just sending palpable fear across the state.”

The network’s hotline has received 2,590 calls since Jan. 1, according to Barousse, with the still-incomplete month of June accounting for nearly a third of the calls.

The hotline received about 200 calls per month from March through May, while June saw more than quadruple that average, with roughly 840 to date, according to Barousse and Santa Clara County officials.

The most common calls were people reporting suspected ICE activity, making requests for immediate legal assistance when a family member or friend was arrested, and residents looking for accompaniment or guidance before attending immigration check-in appointments or court hearings, the county said. The hotline also received calls with requests for Know Your Rights materials.

“We’re just seeing people on high alert. You know, someone sees a white van or they see a uniform, they automatically think ‘Could it be ICE?’,” Barousse said. “Just given the high volume of calls, it stretches our staff, but nonetheless, we’re here as the line of defense for our immigrant community.”

The network’s volunteers and staff respond to reports of potential ICE activity, attempt to verify enforcement actions and post alerts or informational updates on their social media pages.

The network often posts updates clarifying that suspected federal immigration activity was not founded, but rather that a local police or sheriff’s operation is underway and unrelated to immigration. Verifying when ICE isn’t present can be just as important to help quell fears, Barousse said.

Local advocates and support network leaders say concerns about where the Trump administration’s immigration authorities will pop up next, coupled with anxieties caused by unprecedented deployment of the U.S. Marines in Los Angeles during anti-ICE protests, are behind the spike in reports and calls in the South Bay.

“What happened in L.A. … I’ve never seen anything like this in my lifetime, and I’m pretty sure that’s true for everybody who’s calling,” said Huy Tran, executive director of Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network, or SIREN, which is also a part of the Rapid Response Network.

Tran said the group’s goals are to be proactive in planning for the most severe situations, like federal raids taking over portions of the community, but also to boost residents’ understanding of their rights and what to expect so they don’t feel like they have to lock themselves indoors.

“We’re trying to be creative, we’re trying to be prepared. We don’t want folks to panic. We’ve got to get people into a position where they can move past fear and concern and then be engaged,” Tran said.

Local governments in the South Bay have stepped up their contributions to organizations supporting Rapid Response Network and other immigrant defense efforts.

The San José City Council recently approved up to $1.5 million for immigrant support services, the largest such allocation in the city’s history by a wide margin.

In Santa Clara County, where about 40% of residents are foreign-born and Latinos make up roughly 1 in 4 people, supervisors have also increased spending and efforts to reassure the community.

Between late last year and this month, the county allocated more than $8 million for immigrant support, outreach and education services in its annual budget, surpassing the previous high of roughly $6 million annually.

“We’re an extraordinarily diverse community and that diversity is our strength,” County Executive James Williams said Friday. “Our county government is about taking care of those who are most in need, those who are more vulnerable, and ensuring that we have a thriving, safe and prosperous community for everyone.”

Barousse said with Congress preparing to allocate tens of billions for Trump’s “deportation machine,” the resources that are available locally will fall far short of what’s needed.

Williams agreed.

“We are standing up to do as much as we can and we’re doing more than anyone else to try to meet this need. But we do need everyone to step forward and do what they can, and that includes other governmental entities, as well as philanthropic and other partners,” Williams said.

“But there’s no question, the resources we’ve been able to dig deep and identify are not sufficient.”