San Diego County has decided to stop allowing federal immigration agencies to train at a local firing range. The county supervisors made the decision with a 3-2 vote, influenced by concerns over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies.
The contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to use a county-owned facility near the Mexican border will not be renewed. This contract had been in place for years. Monica Montgomery Steppe, one of the supervisors who voted for the change, expressed worries about federal agents’ actions.
“Federal immigration agents have harmed our communities many different ways,” Montgomery Steppe stated. “We don’t want to be complicit.”
San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez announced that ICE would lose access to the county facilities. Martinez reached this decision after community discussions about ICE’s role in armed confrontations. However, she allowed CBP’s use of the facility to continue, highlighting their role in border crime prevention and trade facilitation.
Some community members supported the decision to end the contracts with ICE, viewing it as a stand against the federal government’s deportation policies. Comparatively, other communities like Escondido and places in New York and Minnesota have debated similar actions.
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who opposed the decision, argued that law enforcement agencies should train together. He criticized the notion of making agents travel further as impractical.
“ICE has overreached and overstepped, but how do you fix it? You fix it with more training,” Desmond argued.
Rodney Scott, head of CBP, responded critically, stating the range is vital for training 1,700 officers. Losing access means relocating trainees, affecting local staffing and border operations.
The county board responded to community leaders and residents urging them to maintain trust with immigrant communities. They worked to differentiate local police from federal immigration agents to ease community concerns. Board chair Terra Lawson-Remer emphasized the community’s need to be seen as a home, not a target.
“If the Trump administration wants to spend billions on this law and deportation agenda, they can use their own federal resources,” Lawson-Remer said.
San Diego officials focus on community trust and the separation of federal enforcement actions from local police duties.
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