An investigation by the Santa Barbara News-Press and the Deportation Data Project found that ICE arrested at least 99 people at Santa Barbara County jails during 2025, far exceeding the Sheriff's Office's official report of 12 transfers under California's SB 54 sanctuary law. Many arrests occurred outside official procedures in jail lobbies and parking lots, often targeting people with no criminal convictions or only minor offenses—individuals whom state law explicitly protects from local-federal immigration cooperation. At least 27 people arrested by ICE at county jails had no criminal convictions listed in federal records. The Sheriff's Office acknowledged that ICE agents use county facilities to apprehend people and stated it receives advance notice "on occasion" but does not routinely notify inmates or their lawyers of ICE presence.