ENCINITAS — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were briefly seen outside a charter elementary school in Encinitas on Wednesday morning, prompting concern among parents and staff.
According to a message sent to families by the JCS Mountain Oaks school administration, later obtained by The Coast News, several staff members and students noticed ICE vehicles parked behind the campus during morning drop-off. School staff and parents reportedly approached the agents, who confirmed they were not there on school-related business and left shortly afterward.
A parent at JCS Mountain Oaks, who spoke to The Coast News on the condition of anonymity, said the incident has left families feeling fearful and uncertain.
“Seeing ICE agents outside my child’s school this morning was unsettling. Their presence, masked and near a school, which violates state law, felt less like law enforcement and more like intimidation,” the parent said. “It’s hard not to feel like we’re being watched by a rogue force targeting minority families who don’t fit a certain mold. It sends the wrong message to our children about safety, belonging and justice.”
The school also contacted the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office as a precaution, but officials said the ICE officers had departed before deputies arrived. A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office confirmed the report but had no additional information related to the incident.
Administrators said the situation caused confusion among some students but emphasized that the school responded calmly and that student safety remains its top priority.
Around 7:45 a.m. the same morning, a video shared on social media by community organization Unión del Barrio appears to show several masked federal agents chasing people through the street and detaining at least one person near a construction site at Encinitas Boulevard and Quail Gardens Drive.
The incident occurred just blocks from the school. However, it remains unclear whether the ICE presence at the nearby charter campus and the arrests were connected.
The Coast News contacted ICE officials at the San Diego Field Office multiple times but did not receive a response.
“Vehicles supporting the operation were strategically positioned throughout the area. Every ICE officer involved in the operation clearly identified themselves to community members and wore visible badges,” an ICE spokesperson told ABC 10News. “Additionally, ICE personnel chose to wear masks for safety, not secrecy, as violent agitators have previously targeted ICE officers in coordinated attacks.”
The spokesperson said the operation targeted suspects linked to rock-throwing attacks against federal agents but offered no further details. ICE said other undocumented migrants taken into custody had prior charges, including DUI, disorderly conduct, and sexual battery.
In its social media post, Unión del Barrio thanked residents for sharing photos and videos to alert others about enforcement activity and urged the community to remain cautious amid what it described as an ongoing “wave of deportations.”
The incidents come weeks after a video showing ICE agents arresting the parent of an Encinitas student on Aug. 20 drew sharp criticism from local officials and protests at City Hall.
County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer called the arrest an “ambush,” and state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, described it as “inhumane, barbaric and lawless.”
Two days later, ICE agents arrested two more men working for a landscaping company near the same site, which officials later described as “targeted enforcement operations.”
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a statement from ICE about an arrest near the school.
