Emergency ‘ICE Out’ Rally Held in City Heights Due to Recent Raids at Local Schools

By Angelo Haynes

An emergency ICE Out rally was held at the corner of Fairmount and University Avenues in City Heights in response to a recent surge in ICE raids at various K-12 schools and across the city. The event appears to have been coordinated within 24 hours among some city officials and activist groups, resulting in several hundred people appearing at the busy intersection.

The rally’s purpose appears to be an effort to bring together elected officials, faith leaders, community groups and concerned citizens to highlight the stories of recent civilians abducted by ICE. A recent spike in ICE activity and attempted arrests of minors and parents at streets near schools in the past week prompted this rally. Incidents include a young man who was chased onto City College campus and arrested by ICE, and arrests at city schools Edison Elementary, Marshall Elementary, and Hoover High School.

According to deportationdata.org, since January 2025, there have been 18,000 ICE arrests in San Diego and Imperial Counties, accounting for approximately one-third of all arrests in California in that span. In July 2026 alone, there were 1,952 arrests, triple the number that occurred in July of ’25.

Representatives in attendance included: State Senator Dr. Akilah Weber-Pierson D39, Mayor Todd Gloria, Councilman Whitburn D3, Councilman LaCava D1, Councilman Lee D6, and County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre among others.

Councilmember Elo-Rivera began the proceedings by highlighting the increase in ICE targeting school campuses as well as a recent surge in ICE arrests targeting the Haitian community.

“Three weeks in a row, school drop-off time has turned into a nightmare… last week during school drop-off, parents were chased down by ICE agents after dropping their daughter off at school. I saw the raw footage for myself.” Rivera stated.

“I saw a mother fighting, not just for herself, but for her daughter. While a large man tried to tackle her and pin her down. That mom was a member of the Haitian community here in San Diego.”

Members of the faith community, including several local Haitian churches were in attendance including Reverend Beth Scriven, who gave the opening prayer and moment of silence.

Senator Weber-Pierson offered her perspective on the psychological impact these ICE raids can have on schoolchildren.

“Children are going to school in the mornings, and their parents or family members are being detained in broad daylight after drop-off.”

“Think about what that is doing to those children- they are sitting in class not knowing, where their parents are, if they’ll see them again or who will be there at the end of the day to pick them up.”

Pastor Ronnie and Johny Oxeda, of the Fairmount Haitian Community Church came forward and expressed their concerns for their community and the broader immigrant community as a whole.

“This is not only about our community, Haitian families, Mexican families, every immigrant and refugee family in city heights… Different histories, but the same fear.”

Johny Oxeda Continued. “And our answer cannot be for each community to hide alone.”

When it was Todd Gloria’s time to speak, he was greeted with an eruption of boos and chants of “Cancel Flock!”, while he exhorted that he was angry with ICE as well and that he was there to offer his support.

After several more speeches, the gathering then marched up Fairmount Ave and made a right walking east bound on orange avenue to Euclid Elementary School where the rally arrived at its final location.

After the speaking concluded, rally-goers were encouraged to meet and greet with community groups, such as the City Heights Defense Committee, Detention Resistance, and the San Diego Organizing Project, to recruit interested volunteers.