Over 100 protestors gathered outside of the Katcho Achadjian Government Center in San Luis Obispo on Tuesday to attend a San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors forum discussing the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Department’s interactions with federal immigration officers.

Cesar Vasquez, a rapid-response organizer for 805UNDOCUFUND, a California non-profit that provides short-term financial relief to undocumented residents, spoke to the crowd before the meeting.

“Today cannot be the only time that we come together to stand up for those that can’t. Every single day, ICE is taking people from our communities across SLO and Santa Barbara County,”  he said.  “It’s not just Minnesota, or Chicago or L.A., or New York, it’s here, in our backyard.”

Vasquez shared a direct message to students and young people. “I want students to know that they hold the power. We are the future, and it is our job to fight relentlessly for that future,” he said. “It has to be less about me, me, me, and more about us. More about your community.” 

The center’s board room, two overflow rooms, and the lobby were all full as protestors joined other community members waiting to give public comments.

The forum lasted nearly seven hours, with four hours of that time allocated to public comment.

SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson began the meeting by sharing about the Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds (TRUTH) Act, which limits local and state law enforcement from holding individuals in jail for ICE detention requests. The act also requires local law enforcement to provide individuals in custody with written consent forms before ICE interviews, where they can decline ICE’s request to speak with them. 

The forum is held annually pursuant the TRUTH Act if there are any transfers of individuals from the SLO County Sheriff Department to ICE during the year.

The data Parkinson discussed showed that in 2024, the SLO Sheriff’s department released one individual in their custody to ICE, while in 2025, that number went up to 69 individuals. That’s over a 6800% increase. 

Parkinson credited the significant change to the recent changes in border policy. 

“In 2024, we had open borders. It made zero sense to be turning people over, even if they had a prior conviction, because they would turn around and come right back,” Parkinson said. “ICE were also nowhere to be found. They were deployed at the border with their hands tied, doing almost no enforcement.”

“In 2025, the border was secure. I didn’t have to deal with the fact that it was a useless act to send somebody back,” Parkinson said. “ICE also now had the ability to come pick up people.”

The halls filled with muffled, irritated chuckles and sighs, following Parkinson’s explanation for the change in the number of individuals his department released to ICE in 2025. 

The forum’s massive turnout comes on the heels of rising protests across the country after escalating incidents of violence involving federal agents taking part in the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown. 

Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S citizens who were killed just weeks apart by ICE agents in Minneapolis while protesting this month, have sparked massive increases in the number of people standing up to protest ICE in their communities. 

Colin Thiel, one of the protestors standing outside the SLO forum on Tuesday, was born and raised in Minneapolis.

“I have friends in the city that are teachers witnessing their students disappear one day and not come back,” Thiel said. “I know firefighters who are now dealing with tear gas as if it’s a normal part of their days.” 

“I think we can learn a lot from Minneapolis. The blueprint of resiliency the city has taken is inspiring, and it is the thing motivating me to continue showing up here in SLO, even when it’s inconvenient to my life or seems small. I will keep showing up,” he said. 

Ronja McArthur, a second-year environmental management major at Cal Poly who also attended the protest Tuesday, said she hopes to see more students and young people become involved in standing up to ICE and protecting their communities. 

“There’s a huge generational gap in SLO. We have a lot of older liberal people who show up, and it’s incredible, but I really hope young people realize how social justice is a foundation for so many other things,” McArthur said.  

The forum ended at 8:40 p.m, with a unanimous 5-0 vote by the board of supervisors directing staff to continue looking into options for future action to ensure the safety of SLO County residents, including the much-discussed idea of ICE-free zones, which cities like Chicago and L.A. have created to prohibit ICE from using city-owned property for their operations. 

Upcoming board of supervisor meetings are posted on the SLO county website, with the option to watch from home via a live feed.