Two federal agencies from two U.S. Cabinet departments executed an immigration enforcement operation in Berkeley and, by all appearances, did so without telling anyone in city leadership or law enforcement.

Agents from the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), a law enforcement arm of the State Department, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations division, under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), conducted a “civil immigration enforcement operation” July 9, according to a State Department spokesperson.

The State Department did not respond to questions about people detained or arrested, or the nature of the enforcement action, referring questions to ICE, which led the operation. Neither ICE nor DHS have responded to inquiries from Berkeleyside.

Neither parent agency told city police anything about what they were planning to do Thursday, Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Byron White said in an email. Nor did the police department have anything to do with the operation.

It is also not entirely clear why DSS agents were detailed to an ICE operation. The agency primarily protects diplomats and consulates, but also investigates visa and passport fraud, terrorism and other transnational crimes.

When a law enforcement agency, even a federal one, operates in a local agency’s jurisdiction, it is common, though not always required, to give the home team a heads-up. When DHS agents came to Berkeley in September to speak with someone about a resident application, for example, they gave the Berkeley Police Department a courtesy call, albeit a cursory one.

Berkeley police do not assist in immigration enforcement, part of the city’s longstanding sanctuary policy.

But as ICE has prosecuted President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to dramatically increase deportations, the public agency and its parent department have, in general, not responded to media inquiries from Berkeleyside and its sister newsrooms.

The Berkeley operation fell in between two fatal shootings by ICE agents, one in Texas and the other in Maine.

Advocacy organizations in Berkeley were also taken by surprise

East Bay immigrant advocacy organizations told Berkeleyside they did not receive any tips that the operation had taken place. A representative of the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant called it “very disturbing.”

Local advocates and immigrant rights groups in Berkeley have responded to increased rumors of ICE sightings near schools, city parks, and residential neighborhoods since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidential term.

In March 2025, Berkeley Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra received some criticism for reporting that ICE was at UC Berkeley for “a presentation of some kind.” The rapid response group was able to confirm officials had been in the area, but not for enforcement purposes. A month later, ICE agents visited a Berkeley home, where an immigrant family who applied for refugee status had previously lived, to conduct a “child welfare check.”

Several unverified reports of immigration enforcement agents at San Pablo Park and other parts of Berkeley were made last summer, but city officials and the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership (ACILEP), which serves as the region’s rapid response hotline, were not able to confirm ICE presence.

Last June, when protests erupted in Los Angeles in response to increased ICE and National Guard presence, rumors spread that a construction site in Downtown Berkeley had been raided and workers had been taken away. No ICE activity was confirmed.

The arrival of federal Customs and Border Patrol agents early in the morning on Oct. 23 to Coast Guard Island in Alameda sparked protests and sent community advocates scrambling. But just as quickly as the situation had escalated, it quieted down: By the next day, local officials confirmed that the federal operation in the Bay Area had been called off.

Since then, Berkeley teachers, students and community members have rallied in opposition to federal immigration raids across the country.

The operation was previously reported by The Berkeley Scanner.

Featured photo credit: AP Photo/Erin Hooley