Images of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arriving in Santa Barbara County neighborhoods in unmarked SUVs spread widely on social media over the past few days, with videos and photos showing the federal agents — wearing bulletproof vests, caps, and masks covering their faces — patrolling public areas in Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Santa Maria and taking several individuals into custody without appearing to present any arrest warrants.
In one video, taken outside Thrifty Wash Laundromat in Old Town Goleta just after 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning, three vehicles swarm the parking lot in a matter of seconds, with agents jumping out of the vehicles and apprehending two men who appear to be collecting recyclables in the vicinity. The two men are placed into the back of separate vehicles and taken away in less than two minutes.
Another video from later that same morning shows five agents — four of them dressed in black vests labeled “Police” and one wearing a camo “FBI” vest — speaking to a man who is on a bench at a park near David Love Place in Goleta. The person recording the video can be heard trying to talk to the man, who also appeared to be collecting bottles and cans to take to a nearby recycling facility…