Residents want local governments to end contracts that let ICE train on their gun ranges

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers training at a local gun range largely went unnoticed by residents of one Southern California city for more than a decade, until President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and the recent fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents.

The arrangement in Escondido, a city of about 150,000 people north of San Diego surrounded by farms and horse ranches, has sparked weeks of demonstrations. Residents are demanding that the city stop allowing ICE agents to train at the local police department range, reflecting growing discontent across the country with the administration’s immigration actions.

On Wednesday, residents carrying signs reading “ICE Out” packed an Escondido City Council meeting scheduled to discuss the issue, filled an overflow room and pleaded with local officials to end the agreement with ICE.

“I don’t know why you want to invite this kind of ruckus, this kind of backlash and I don’t know why you would want to support this administration’s actions against our neighbors,” said Erin Evans, a member of the San Diego County Board of Education.

A majority of Americans in recent polls have said Trump has “gone too far” in sending ...