With one hand holding onto a cardboard cutout of a silhouetted body, Jeanne Sparks told the Santa Maria City Council she doesn’t want to see local officials stand idly by while Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations escalate.
“We can’t let them do to our community what they have done elsewhere,” Sparks said at the council’s Jan. 20 meeting. “ICE is out of control. They use excessive force. … They arrest people without warrants, including citizens.”
Propped up next to Sparks, at the public comment podium, was the silhouetted cutout, with the words, “She was good,” written on the figure’s chest. Splattered red paint was at the center of its head.
“Renée Good was recently killed by an ICE agent in Minnesota. She was a peaceful protester,” Sparks said. “You could tell from the way her wheels were turned that she was not trying to hit the ICE agent, but he shot her anyway. Four times.”
Sparks was among several speakers during public comment for non-agenda items who urged the council to establish an ad hoc committee dedicated to collecting information about local ICE activity and promoting new initiatives to increase protections for immigrants.
Like Sparks, public commenter Michelle Ambriz asked the council not to wait until someone in Santa Maria dies “under the untrained hands of ICE agents.”
“How much more loss does our community need to face until you take action?” asked Ambriz, a volunteer for 805 UndocuFund’s Rapid Response Network. “As of yesterday, there have been 1,475 kidnappings within our region—with 373 of those happening here in Santa Maria.”
Santa Maria City Councilmember Carlos Escobedo asked Ambriz where she got those numbers from because he had heard inconsistent totals between from other community members. Ambriz told him that her tallies came from 805 UndocuFund’s Rapid Response Network.
Other speakers who advocated for more protections for immigrants at the hearing included Pam Gates, a representative of Indivisible Santa Maria. Five days prior, Gates was a featured speaker during Jan. 15’s ICE Out of 805 march in Santa Maria.
“The time is now for the City Council and all city officials to … take a firm stance against the arrests happening every day in the city limits,” Gates said at the Jan. 20 meeting.
After Mayor Alice Patino closed public comment, Councilmember Maribel Aguilera turned her mic on.
“I would like to request, from the mayor, if we can put on the agenda … a resolution or a proclamation—just like Guadalupe, Goleta, Lompoc, Santa Barbara has done—so that we can send a clear message that we do stand with immigrants,” Aguilera said. “My parents are immigrants. I personally picked strawberries as a child. I worked in the fields. I think a lot of us are feeling really fearful of what’s going on, as a lot of comments have been made.”
Patino directed the question to city staff. City Manager David Rowlands said that he can spearhead drafting a resolution for the council to review at a future hearing.
After Aguilera’s proposal prompted some applause from audience members, Councilmember Gloria Soto voiced her desire to amend it.
“My only request would be that it’s more than just a resolution in support, that we look to include language in there that can ensure the safety of residents,” Soto said, “including language around our local law enforcement not aiding in any federal raids.”
Aguilera agreed with Soto’s suggestion.
Mayor Patino said, “right now, our Police Department does not enforce federal immigration laws or take part in immigration or enforcement operations.”
“We don’t know if they’re coming; when they’re coming,” Patino continued. “We have no control over them at all.”
This article appears in January 29 – February 5, 2026.
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