Five activists escorted out of State of the City Address while demanding San Diego mayor confront ICE
In a press conference earlier in the week, organizers said Mayor Todd Gloria could follow the example of mayors in other cities across the country in taking a stronger stance against violent immigration enforcement.
Written by Lauren J. Mapp and Sam Barney-Gibbs, Edited by Kate Morrissey
Correction: Updated on Jan. 17, 2026 at 6:06 p.m. to correct that Nancy Francis said "The state of the city is fear," not "here."
Police escorted five people out in handcuffs during Mayor Todd Gloria’s annual State of the City Address on Thursday afternoon after they interrupted him by yelling concerns about immigration enforcement and other city issues.
The disruptions came amid mounting pressure on Gloria to take a stronger stance against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in San Diego. Two days earlier, a coalition of local activist groups including representatives from Activist San Diego and some of Thursday’s demonstrators, accused city leadership — including Gloria and Police Chief Scott Wahl — of not doing enough as ICE conducts what they described as aggressive, rogue enforcement operations across San Diego County.
Tuesday’s activist press conference and the mayor’s address followed the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis and Keith Porter by an off-duty ICE officer in Los Angeles, and the San Diego community members said that they want to prevent something similar happening locally.
At Tuesday's press conference, the group demanded immediate action from city leaders and a meeting with the mayor prior to his address. They asked that local police enforce two state laws signed last year requiring federal and local law enforcement officers to identify themselves and banning officers from wearing face masks while working.
“We don't want to just hear about what they have on paper, because ‘on paper’ doesn't meet the streets,” said Yusef Miller, executive director of Activist San Diego. “When the rubber meets the road, we see San Diegans being brutalized, being harmed, being beaten for the sake of ICE and for the sake of law enforcement brutality.”
Seated in the City Council chambers on Thursday, attendee Michael Rios repeatedly yelled, “Meet with us!” before police removed him. Later, Jeane Wong shouted, “Please do not let them shoot me!” referring to ICE, before police cuffed her too.
Police also escorted out Grace Rojas-Jimenez, Nancy Francis and Dee Kali.
“I stood and said, ‘Todd Gloria, the state of the city is fear. People are afraid to leave their homes,” Francis told Daylight. “‘People are afraid to go to church. ICE is coming to this city. What are you going to do? Are you going to protect us?’”
Police brought all five people downstairs and released them without charges in front of City Hall.
Organizers told Daylight that hundreds of people initially gathered Thursday to protest before the mayor’s address, but the crowd dispersed after city administrators told organizers to remain inside the chambers before Gloria’s speech or forfeit their public comment.
Several state and local laws shape the ways local law enforcement are allowed to interact with federal immigration officials.
That includes S.B. 54, or the California Values Act, which limits local police agencies from transferring someone from their custody to ICE except for certain circumstances. Enacted in 2017, the law bars local police statewide from detecting, investigating, questioning, detaining or arresting people for immigration enforcement purposes and from assisting immigration authorities in those activities.
Locally, Gloria signed an executive order in July instructing SDPD to inform his office when it responds to large-scale immigration enforcement by federal agencies. But organizers said Tuesday that they wanted him to take a stronger stance against ICE and meet with them ahead of his annual address.
Since last summer, ICE officers have repeatedly called local police for emergency assistance during raids across San Diego, including in Mission Bay, South Park and Linda Vista. SDPD have said officers provided traffic control or secured perimeters at federal agents’ request.
Sometimes, ICE claims it needs the backup support because one of its officers was assaulted.
“They are bold-faced lying as a tactic,” said Wong, who was detained by federal officials in Linda Vista as police looked on. “It is a tactic to get our San Diego Police Department there to escalate a peaceful presence into chaos.”
Wahl was not available for comment Thursday. Via email, Lt. Cesar Jimenez pointed to a page on the city’s website that details the ways the department handles immigration situations, which includes a breakdown of local, state and federal laws, as well as SDPD policy related to undocumented people. The page says that officers have to provide emergency assistance to all law enforcement agencies, including during immigration enforcement operations.
“The San Diego Police Department is committed to building trust, keeping our communities safe, and complying with state laws,” Jimenez said.
But many San Diego activists think the city needs to do more.
Mariel Horner — a mental health professional, volunteer with Mutual Aid for Moms and an organizer with both the San Diego Bike Brigade and 50501 San Diego who spoke during the press conference — said that damage caused by state violence against immigrants and the people standing up for them “ripples through families, communities and generations.”
“You cannot wait until someone else is killed to pretend this was unpredictable,” Horner said. “We are here demanding accountability because prevention is our job. Safety means housing, health care, dignity and freedom. Safety does not come from cages, cops or ICE.”
Speakers during Tuesday’s press conference gave examples of other city leaders across the country who have taken strong stances against immigration enforcement, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
“These ICE raids are cruel and inhumane, and they do nothing to further the cause or the interest of public safety,” Mamdani told CNN last week.
While Gloria did not speak with local activists ahead of his address, he did discuss immigration issues during it.
“Sometimes, the threat to our public safety comes from decisions made far away from us in our nation's capital and carried out in ways that are designed to instill fear here at home,” he said.
He said the Trump administration is terrorizing communities.
“I know that you can see it in the families that have been torn apart, in the neighborhoods thrown into chaos, in innocent bystanders put at risk, and in local police officers forced into volatile situations that they didn't ask for and didn't create,” Gloria said.
During his speech, he mentioned violent ICE activities locally and across the country, including a raid at Buona Forchetta in South Park last May.
“Our entire nation saw this firsthand in the murder of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota, which outraged all of us,” Gloria said.
He did not mention future city plans related to the issue.
Outside City Hall after the address, Miller pushed for the mayor to meet with concerned citizens.
“If you don't have your finger on the pulse of the community, and you only have a pulse on the paperwork in the whole area of the city, you're not going to really be able to come up with real solutions that help real people,” Miller said.
Civil rights activist and former San Diego mayoral candidate Tasha Williamson criticized the mayor’s handling of public participation during Thursday’s speech. She said that due to limited public seating, many of the people most affected by city policies were excluded from the room.
“[Gloria] said, ‘Hold me accountable,’ but you saw in that meeting people that were holding him accountable were dragged out by law enforcement officers,” Williamson said.
