‘I was never an activist’: The San Diegans signing up to watch ICE

Community patrols that monitor San Diego County neighborhoods for immigration enforcement activity have seen big jumps in new members and trainees in recent months — part of a larger movement of San Diegans pushing back against immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.

Community networks dedicated to monitoring federal immigration enforcement have sprung up around the country over the last year in response to President Donald Trump’s crackdown, with interest growing not just in patrols but in mutual aid, protests and demonstrations outside of detention centers.

Hundreds of new volunteers have joined patrols around San Diego County in the last year, organizers estimate. One patrol group says its numbers of new trainees are up tenfold, with the biggest jumps in recent months.

The patrols monitor their communities for agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection in the midst of a sharp rise in immigration arrests. They serve as an alert system, with patrollers trained in techniques to identify immigration enforcement vehicles and agents and observe them from a distance.

“There’s just a tremendous interest,” said Ricardo Favela, a member of Alianza Comunitaria, a North County-based, community-run patrol group. “This is one way to fight back, and it’s a proven method. It’s a trusted method. It’s training people to do this safely, to know the limits and to not intervene.”

Favela says around 20 p...