Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have increased their presence around school campuses throughout the San Diego area, including East County communities, according to East County Magazine โ occupying parking lots, monitoring bus routes and making arrests within blocks of schools during morning drop-off and afternoon pickup.
Immigration arrests in San Diego and Imperial counties surged by 1,500 percent between late 2025 and early 2026, according to state reporting. Nationally, at least 3,800 children were booked into ICE detention between January 2025 and early 2026, according to the report.
The enforcement expansion follows a federal policy change โ "Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas" โ which revoked a 2021 directive that had limited immigration enforcement at schools and churches. The Department of Homeland Security said the change ensures that criminals will no longer be able to hide in schools and churches to avoid arrest. An ICE memo now requires secondary supervisor approval before agents take action at or near sensitive locations.
The change has drawn a divide among local officials. Lakeside school board member Andrew Hayes, a Republican, publicly pushed back on what he called scaremongering, saying ICE is not conducting raids at schools. East County Magazine reported, however, that federal agents have been documented making arrests in areas immediately surrounding campuses, including during the school run.
Nationwide, the pattern has driven significant drops in student attendance. Surveys of educators working with immigrant families showed 24 percent reported reduced attendance and 15 percent reported enrollment declines due to fear of enforcement. Approximately 9 million school-aged children across the country live in households with at least one noncitizen adult. For East County families with children in Santee, Lakeside and surrounding school districts, the anxiety is present โ even when no specific incident occurs near a given campus. East County Magazine contributed to this report.