ICE agents confronted by community patrol in parking lot of City Heights school

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were confronted by community activists at Herbert Ibarra Elementary School in City Heights early Friday morning.

The confrontation occurred when two ICE vehicles briefly parked at the school around 6:30 a.m., prompting activists from Union Del Barrio community patrol to approach the agents. The activists, who patrol the area to warn residents of ICE presence, accused them of targeting families and children.

The federal undercover SUVs with blacked-out tinted windows parked momentarily and then drove off once confronted. While doing so, they blocked their windows with sunshades to hide their identities.

In a video of the encounter, which can be viewed at the top of this article, one activist can be heard in Spanish warning, "We have immigration agents in the school!"

Union Del Barrio held a news conference following the incident, denouncing the presence of ICE officers on the elementary school campus. The group vowed to continue their patrols to alert the community of any federal agents in the area.

"It's targeting our families and it's targeting our children. Our communities are under attack," said one member of Union Del Barrio.

Another activist at the gathering emphasized that schools should be a "sacred" place and "children should be able to come and learn and be comfortable and be happy."

ICE declined an interview but released a statement asserting that no enforcement activity took place on school grounds. The statement claimed that officers did not exit their vehicles and were conducting a targeted operation in the City Heights area when activists began "harassing" them.

Community activists are now calling on elected officials to develop a plan to resist federal agents' presence in local neighborhoods.

The incident highlights ongoing tensions between immigration enforcement and the local community, with activists pledging to maintain their vigilance against what they perceive as threats to their community.

FOX 5's Jaimie Chambers contributed to this report.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KSWB. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KSWB staff before being published.