SBCC's Statement on Recent Law Enforcement Activities on Campus

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., December 18, 2025 - Santa Barbara City College would like to take a moment to acknowledge the fear, stress, and anxiety experienced by the Santa Barbara and SBCC communities including students and employees (faculty and staff) regarding recent events with law enforcement/ICE on Cliff campus. We want to ensure that our SBCC campuses remain safe places that prioritize learning, with dignity and respect. 

The series of events that occurred last week at SBCC are very concerning. SBCC was not informed in advance of law enforcement activities on our campuses, including the Department of Homeland Security’s visit to Antioch University (who rents facilities at SBCC), ICE staging in the SBCC West Cliff Campus parking lot, or the dignitary training by the County of Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office.

Since these events transpired, SBCC has been in communication with elected leaders and various community organizations and continues to be open to dialogue. Regarding the staging incident on December 11, Vice President of Student Services, Paloma Arnold, was in direct communication with a representative from 805Undocufund as the situation was unfolding. SBCC is grateful for their communication — and in the spirit of collaboration and supporting community, we are meeting with 805Undocufund’s Executive Director, Primitiva Hernandez, and team in early January. 

We are thankful to all of our concerned community members and SBCC remains extremely concerned about the situation and takes these matters very seriously. We are committed to continuous improvement of our own processes and advocacy to our elected leaders for support. We are committed to supporting our students and employees and will continue to provide them with the necessary, updated resources.

SBCC timeline from December 11, 2025:
6:00 p.m. - 805Undcofund sends out text to community/rapid response members “ICE at SBCC.”

6:00 p.m. - An unidentified person (student/community member) approached a SBCC Campus Safety student worker in front of the Luria Library and stated that ICE was on West Cliff Campus but did not provide any specific details. The student worker then contacted SBCC Campus Safety Officers via radio. 

6:05 p.m. - SBCC Campus Safety conducted a search of West Cliff Campus and found no law enforcement individuals. 

6:05 - 6:10 p.m - Community members begin to contact Vice President of Student Services Paloma Arnold and Executive Director of Public Affairs and Communication, Jordan Killebrew, providing information of the exact location of ICE activity. Arnold and Killebrew then share this information directly with SBCC Campus Safety requesting them to go to the West Cliff Campus parking lot immediately.

6:10 - 6:15 p.m. - SBCC Campus Safety arrives at the West Cliff Campus parking lot and identifies 4 unmarked, “questionable” vehicles on the upper level of the West Cliff Campus parking lot that do not display SBCC permits; no law enforcement individuals are present.

6:17 p.m. - Paloma Arnold and Jordan Killebrew arrive at the West Cliff Campus parking lot. SBCC Campus Safety is still present.

6:26 p.m. - 805Undocufund shared a video of activity that occurred around 5:45 p.m. of law enforcement in FBI attire at the West Cliff Campus parking lot.

6:30 p.m. - Additional calls to SBCC Campus Safety indicate that ICE is also on East Campus; Killebrew goes to verify. After traveling to the East Campus to confirm, Killebrew identified that report as false.

6:45 p.m. - Killebrew returns to West Cliff Campus parking lot. 

6:55 p.m. - 805Undocufund confirms that the vehicles parked on West Cliff Campus were not previously known ICE vehicles.

6:58 p.m. -  ICE agents return to the West Cliff Campus parking lot, Arnold questions officers; Killebrew takes photos. The only response from ICE: “We are leaving now”.

7:00 p.m. - SBCC Alert text message sent to community “ICE at SBCC W. Cliff Campus parking structure.”

7:06 p.m. - ICE leaves SBCC; one car is left behind and parked.

7:26 p.m. - Email to campus community sent with additional details.

8:00 p.m. - SBCC Alert text message sent to community: “No current ICE activity at SBCC W. Cliff Campus.”

8:15 p.m. - Arnold and Killebrew leave SBCC.

We hear the community’s concern and want to share again that we want to keep our SBCC campuses safe places that prioritize learning with an environment of dignity and respect. 

Since the events last week we have taken additional steps to ensure safety for our students and employees. As a State agency, SBCC is limited by State and Federal law, however, we are committed to doing everything possible under the law and everything required by the law to support our students and employees.
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Additional steps taken by SBCC:
We immediately contacted 24th District U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal, requesting advocacy that ICE not occupy our campuses at all. 

We have provided all of our facts and information to the California Department of Justice, who is tracking ICE activity across the state. 

We contacted our State Senator Monique Limón, requesting enforceable policy and advocacy that ICE not occupy our campuses at all.

We have contacted the California Community College Chancellor’s Office and requested enforceable policy and advocacy on behalf of California Community Colleges.

Our SBCC Campus Safety officers received refresher training in handling ICE incidents on Friday, December 12, including how to gather information when a concerned community member calls/reports and to immediately contact SBCC administration

SBCC sent a follow-up email to students and employees on December 12 reminding anyone on campus to please call SBCC Campus Safety immediately if they see anything suspicious. The campus community was advised to make sure to identify the location, how many officers/vehicles, color of vehicles, and as much information as they could provide to SBCC Campus Safety. 

SBCC has informed our tenants (Antioch University, Kaplan, and others), that they must contact SBCC before inviting law enforcement, especially the Department of Homeland Security to our campuses.  

SBCC has asked the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s office to contact SBCC in advance of any training that they wish to conduct on our campuses. Board President, Jonathan Abboud, will personally contact Sheriff Brown to communicate this concern.

SBCC will meet in early January with 805Undocufund’s Executive Director Primitiva Hernandez and her team to share information and continue the dialogue.

SBCC Board of Trustees will receive a report on existing resources, processes and policies and discuss what additional action, if any can be done, at a future board meeting in early 2026.

Established in 1909, Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is one of the oldest community colleges in California. The district consists of SBCC’s main campus on Santa Barbara’s beachfront coast, two separate campuses for its School of Extended Learning programs, as well as a Cosmetology school. The college offers a range of associate degree, certificate and transfer programs and is recognized by the Department of Education as an official Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).