Before Escondido meeting about ICE use of gun range, documents reveal Border Patrol also used facility
A series of invoices and other documents related to the contract obtained by activists include an agreement for Border Patrol’s use of the gun range in 2018.
Written by Kate Morrissey, Edited by Lauren J. Mapp
Border Patrol used the Escondido Police Department's gun range for training.
That's according to a 2018 agreement included in documents obtained by activists trying to gather information about an ongoing contract between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Escondido police. News about the ICE contract appeared to have caught councilmembers by surprise, and they were scheduled to meet Wednesday night to discuss the details.
Escondido's mayor did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
According to Capt. Erik Witholt with the police department, Border Patrol hasn't used the facility since 2018.
An email account for the Escondido city manager responded to Daylight's questions for the mayor with instructions to file a public records request. The account did not respond to further questions from Daylight.
Councilmember Consuelo Martinez said via email that she would ask the city manager for more information.
Many community members have argued that having such a contract with ICE further erodes trust between the city and its residents.
S.G. Sarmiento, campaign director and attorney with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network who has been raising awareness about the contract, said he thinks there is a reason why the city has kept quiet about the contract.
“People are pissed off,” Sarmiento said. “And they should be. This is a real threat to public safety — in Escondido, and across all San Diego County.”
The mayor pushed back on these concerns in speaking with ABC10, saying that only ICE's Homeland Security Investigations staff are using the firing range. However, some of the agreement documents obtained by activists were signed by a “supervisory deportation officer” and include ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations, which has historically been responsible for immigration arrests, detention and deportation.
The Trump administration has pulled agents from the investigations branch of ICE to assist in the work of the agency's Enforcement and Removal Operations branch.Border Patrol polices areas between ports of entry, watching for people entering without inspection. The Trump administration has also pulled those agents to do interior enforcement work with ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations.
A government website shows the police chief signed a $67,500 contract with ICE Homeland Security Investigations on Jan. 14, 2026. That contract does not include U.S. Border Patrol.
Border Patrol's agreement with the city was less formal than a request for quote process, Witholt said, more like an organization renting a city facility for a private gathering.
Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of Border Patrol, did not respond to questions from Daylight San Diego in time for publication.
The last request for a quote from Customs and Border Protection in the region listed on the government site is from 2012, and information on that posting is limited.
According to the agreement, Border Patrol agents used the Escondido facility at least seven times from February through June 2018, and the agency paid $300 for each use of the city's firing range for a total of $2,100.
Activists also obtained documents that show police charged ICE $350 each time the agency used one of the firing ranges in 2020 and 2021. That amount went up to $400 per visit in 2022.
The city raised the rate for use of its gun ranges to $1,000 in 2024, according to a document from the city.
