Escondido city leaders are facing mounting backlash over a contract with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that allows federal immigration agents to train at a city-owned police shooting range.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside Escondido City Hall ahead of a city council meeting, calling on officials to cancel the agreement. Many later headed inside council chambers to make their voices heard as the meeting began.
The contract permits DHS personnel — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents — to use the city’s 22-acre police training facility, located just outside city limits. Escondido police train at the range and rent it out to other agencies when it is not in use.
On Jan. 15, the city entered into an agreement with DHS to provide “firing range usage for agents to meet required qualifications to achieve their mission when conducting investigations.” The information is listed on USAspending.gov, a government website that tracks federal spending.
A spokesperson for the Escondido Police Department clarified that this agreement is the second extension of a contract that began in 2024 and added that similar agreements have been in place since 2013.
Opponents argue the current political climate makes the contract unacceptable, pointing to what they describe as increasingly aggressive — and in some cases deadly — actions by federal immigration officers.
Amalia Martinez with the Escondido Democratic Club questioned the city’s reasoning.
“One of the arguments that the police chief has made is that this contract’s been in place since 2013, but this is a different ICE than 2013. This is a different administration from 2013, so that argument doesn’t fly. We’re not cool with that argument at all,” Martinez said.
Elias Turner said many North County residents are frustrated.
“It’s a frustrating situation, I think, for everybody in North County, and we don’t want to be ending up like Minnesota,” Turner said.
Alondra Alvarez, a community educator with Universidad Popular, said the agreement sends the wrong message.
“The messages that it sends very clearly is they dont care about the community, they dont care after the safety of the communitym, and they dont prioritize the fear, the very real fear this community feels every day,” Alvarez said.
Escondido Police Chief Ken Plunkett was expected to present information about the contract to the city council during the meeting. A request to review the presentation in advance was initially approved by the clerk’s office, but the police department later said it would not be made public until the meeting.
NBC 7 also reached out to ICE for comment. In a statement, the agency said it will not confirm where its agents train or “put their lives at risk.”
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.
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