Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained two people in Redwood City over the last two days after agents camped out in front of Maguire Correctional Facility downtown. These arrests are part of seven detentions across San Mateo County since Friday.
Faith in Action Bay Area (FiABA), San Mateo County’s official immigration rapid response network, confirmed ICE’s presence outside Maguire Correctional Facility on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. On Sunday, ICE arrested a targeted individual outside the facility at 3:35 p.m., coinciding with Redwood City’s Día de los Muertos celebration.
ICE also conducted a targeted arrest on Monday morning, FiABA confirmed. The arrest took place on the corner of Hopkins Avenue and El Camino Real in downtown Redwood City, about a block from Sequoia High School.
More ICE detainments took place Monday morning in Montara and Half Moon Bay. FiABA verified that the Montara arrest took place at the intersection of Eighth Street and Main Street, a two-minute drive from Montara State Beach. The detainment in Half Moon Bay occurred at the laundromat near the Cabrillo Highway Safeway, across the street from Half Moon Bay High School. FiABA said they were in contact with, and providing resources to, the family of the individual detained in Half Moon Bay.
ICE also detained a targeted individual near the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo on Friday morning. FiABA confirmed the arrest on Friday afternoon, and wrote they were already in contact with the family of the detained individual and were in the process of providing legal resources.
ICE detained two other individuals in targeted arrests throughout the County on Friday. One individual was detained in the early morning near the Burlingame Avenue Starbucks, and another was detained later in the morning at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Delaware Street in San Mateo.
All seven of the detainments since Friday have been targeted arrests, according to FiABA. None were raids of private property or results of ICE detaining indiscriminately on the street.
In an Instagram post, FiABA claimed that at least 16 San Mateo County residents have been detained by ICE in the past nine days.
These arrests, combined with several October detainments, indicate a clear increase in ICE’s activity in the County. Two weeks ago, ICE detained individuals in Redwood City and East Palo Alto, marking the closest confirmed detainments to M-A since August 2025.
Science teacher Lance Powell has witnessed ICE’s presence in Redwood City. “[ICE presence] is disturbing when it’s happening in your neighborhood,” he said. “I mean, it’s disturbing, period, but when it starts to show up in your neighborhood, it takes it to another level.”
L. Powell’s wife, Carmen Powell, a teacher at Encinal Elementary School, says ICE detained a man in front of their home. “It’s a little bit more real when it happens in front of your face, in front of your house,” she said. “You are supposed to feel safe in your neighborhood with neighbors that you know. It just feels like a violation.”
An M-A walkout in protest of ICE is planned for tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. The walkout route is to the Redwood City Courthouse Square, less than two blocks from the Maguire Correctional Facility.
