- United States
- Texas
- Letter
Investigate the October 21 ICE operation in Santa Maria that left a non-verbal special needs student with a broken wrist, lacerations, and bruising severe enough to require surgery. ICE's own statement admits agents stopped the wrong person. A student walking to school ended up in the operating room, and the agency's claim that he "never requested medical assistance" does not change what happened to him.
Eyewitness accounts, school district staff, and nearby security camera footage all confirm what the 805 Rapid Response Network documented: this student was aggressively tackled and restrained without probable cause. Councilmember Gloria Soto has noted that reports indicate he had his ID on him the entire time and was never asked for it. This is not an isolated incident. ICE has conducted enforcement operations in Santa Maria nearly every day this month, including near schools and at a college campus where a father was arrested dropping his daughter off.
A coalition including 805UndocuFund, CAUSE, Future Leaders of America, MICOP, and Santa Maria Indivisible is calling for a full independent investigation and disclosure of any coordination between city resources and federal enforcement. Support that demand. No student should be beaten on the way to school and left in the street.