San Luis Obispo County hasn’t really experienced a big ICE raid yet. We’ve just watched as businesses down south get swarmed, local residents push back, and California residents are handcuffed and taken away.
On July 10, Glass House Farms in Camarillo and Carpinteria was targeted. National Guard troops, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and Customs and Border Patrol officers showed up and arrested more than 360 people.
A Department of Homeland Security press release claims that it nabbed at least “361 illegal aliens” from the two sites and “violent and dangerous criminal illegal aliens.” That press release named five of the arrestees and their alleged crimes, which include rape, burglary, DUIs, kidnapping, and attempted child molestation.
Great. Get those five out of here.
What about the rest of the people? There are 356 others who wound up in detention somewhere. And I’ll bet that some of them are American citizens and the vast majority didn’t commit any crimes. The department claims that it is one of the largest operations since Trumpty Dumpty took office. Slow clap? More like slow slap.
DHS also claims to have “rescued at least 14 migrant children from what looks like exploitation, forced child labor, and potentially human trafficking or smuggling while facing assault and even gunfire.”
I know I can’t believe most of the words that come out of the Trump administration. And if people are criminals and trafficking minors, they absolutely need to be held accountable. Raiding a worksite and arresting everyone who’s there? An indiscriminate raid designed to catch a handful of criminals in a gigantic dragnet that traps those who have a right not to be trapped. That’s how the federal government is implementing its “policy.”
By spreading fear, instigating unrest, and being obstinate and secretive on American soil. It’s a recipe for disaster. A man died trying to escape the raid. The conflict between protesters and federal law enforcement is getting more tense, more intense. It feels a little out of control, like it’s reaching for a boiling point that I’d like us all to avoid.
Protesters showed up en masse to the July 15 Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting. Their comments were greeted with question marks. Because local governments don’t have control over the federal government, and they don’t have information from them either.
Even Santa Maria‘s ICE office doesn’t know what its own agency or others are doing in its supposed coverage area. As far as that office is concerned, it’s focused on coordinating with the Lompoc federal penitentiary as undocumented immigrants who have served time for crimes are released from confinement.
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino was candid with his comments.
“I think this is the first time in 15 years that I don’t even know who to go to for information. That’s the scary thing,” he said at the meeting. “I want to be part of the solution, but I also feel like we’re blocked out, and I don’t really understand why.”
“There’s a lot of chaos going on, and it’s very frustrating to kind of ‘be in charge’ and not know what’s going on,” he said.
Chaos is how the Trump administration operates. And sharing information is not on the to-do list. It feels like SLO County needs to brace itself for the inevitable.
You know what else is inevitable? Morro Bay hiring yet another city manager. Since 2013, the city has had four interim city managers, which means it’s also had four “permanent” city managers. So that’s eight. Eight city managers in 12 years.
That’s not great.
And since the city just fired its city manager, it’s doing the only thing it can do. Hiring an old city manager that it fired to be the interim. What? Andrea Leuker, being the trooper that she is, agreed to do the job. She served as city manager during a very tumultuous time—when Cayucos and Morro Bay broke up over their shared wastewater treatment facility.
Morro Bay residents were pissed! Pissed they had to shoulder the burden of paying to build a facility to deal with their toilet waste. Pissed the city caved to the California Coastal Commission. Pissed at Cayucos. Pissed at the City Council. Pissed it took so long, cost so much. Pissed at the contractor. Pissed. Pissed. Pissed.
I can only liken it to what just happened with the Vistra battery energy storage system proposal nixed by a vote of the people! Only, the wastewater facility was built, and now, it takes all that piss and recycles it.
Morro Bay residents also recycled their anger, bringing up that period of time at the recent meeting where Leuker was appointed as interim.
Resident Jane Heath said the end of Leuker’s previous role was “divisive” and that “bringing her back opens wounds.”
Councilmember Jeff Eckles basically told whiners to shut the hell up.
“We are in the present,” he said. “I’m not holding political grudges from 15 years ago. I don’t have any axe to grind that way. And if you do, for crying out loud, get over it. This is 2025, and we have a city to run.”
Wow. I don’t know whether I love him or hate him. Is he Trumpy? Or is he for the people? It’s questionable. But he’s right. They do need to get over it. Δ
The Shredder doesn’t hold grudges. Send some to shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jul 17-27, 2025.
What libs fail to understand is that their very concern for marriage equality and reproductive rights are being undermined by the very religion that the majority of the illegal aliens follow and that is based in Rome. When these illegal immigrants enter our country with or without good intentions and have children, those children are legitimate Americans. They follow this particular religion and will eventually vote for politicians of this religion who promote principles like a ban on same sex marriage, the elimination of reproductive rights, and a dissolution of the separation of church and state so their particular religion can receive our tax money to fund their private, religious schools. Yeah, those schools. The ones who turn free thinking individuals into theocratic nutbags blocking women from entering Planned Parenthood clinics waving photographs of dead babies. Congratulations, liberals. In supporting illegal immigration, you cut off your nose and spite your faces.. That voting pattern I mentioned is already taking place, and as it does, ROME IS REJOICING at the thought of controlling California. Protestants, you should be concerned too. There are generations of people running around California convinced they need an intercessor (a priest) to get between them and their relationship with God, and by extension, their own salvation. Connect the dots.
With ICE and Border Protection getting $170 billion from the Big Awful Bill, definitely expect more raids and detention centers in a neighborhood near you. Man who died in Camarillo raid was not a criminal and had worked for Glass House Farms for ten years. He left behind a wife and family. But the people who voted for Trump and held up Mass Deportation Now signs do not consider these people as human. They are simply vermin who need to be gone. Why? I guess they need somebody to blame for some perceived grievance that has been spun up by Dear Leader.
We need a nation of law and order. It starts with our borders. Give ICE MORE money, MORE detention centers, and MORE airplanes to send all the millions of illegals and their connection to drug cartels and human smuggling operations as far away from our nation as humanly possible. Then, let’s prosecute the employers that were putting them to work. THen, let’s prosecute the politicians who looked the other way because the lobbying groups representing the sectors employing the illegals, gave them campaign contributions or outright BRIBES. This can be done just like was done to a sitting judge who tried to hide a violent illegal in her office when ICE came to detain/arrest him. No one is above the law.
What ICE is doing isn’t just morally obscene — it’s legally criminal. Under 42 U.S. Code § 1983, every federal agent who strips a citizen of their constitutional rights can be held personally liable. But the Jan. 6th pardons, the multiple felony charges (guilty) of the grifter and activities being taken by the Cabinet members (numerous violations of law) seem to be acceptable to some. Law and Order party, ya right.
You said it earlier, Fly: The deportations are just an excuse to install a standing military in the cities. Then they can enforce any agenda, including suppression of peaceful protest, disappearance of political enemies, enforcement of a military draft or slave labor. Once all the immigrants are deported, they will find another enemy.
Steve:
“…install a standing military in the cities.” Precisely! That’s exactly what LA, San Francisco, NYC, Chicago, Seattle, and every other large American city needs. Not every city dweller hates the police, many want MORE police.