Makena Huey | Ventura County Star
Joined by political, community and faith leaders, U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley condemned the increasingly violent actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and demanded an immediate end to what she called the agency’s lawless operations.
The Jan. 30 news conference was held outside the ICE field office at 321 Cortez Circle in Camarillo where the Westlake Village Democrat said she has been denied access.
The event came after federal immigration agents killed citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti during enforcement operations in Minneapolis. At least six individuals have been killed during enforcement operations under the second Trump administration, according to Brownley’s office. Last year, ICE recorded 32 deaths in its detention facilities.
“We are united by a shared belief that every life has worth and that we cannot stand by quietly or passively while brutality goes unchallenged,” Brownley said. “All people deserve to live in safety, free from fear and free from violence at the hands of their own government.”
Ventura County Supervisor Vianey Lopez, Camarillo Vice Mayor Martita Martinez-Bravo and the Rev. Betty Stapleford of the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice Ventura County were among those who attended.
Speakers condemn ICE, call for change
Brownley, who earlier this month cosponsored a resolution that filed articles of impeachment against U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, demanded that the top White House official be fired.
The congresswoman also demanded additional oversight of ICE prior to funding allocation, the unmasking and identification of federal agents, the implementation of humane conditions in detention centers and an end to the detention and deportation of both immigrants and citizens without due process.
Genevieve Flores-Haro, associate director of the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project, said the separation of families is always an act of violence, but the escalation of military tactics increased drastically last year.
“Ventura County was used as a litmus test for what we saw in Chicago, what we saw in Portland and what we’ve been seeing out of Minneapolis,” she said.
Camarillo made national headlines after federal agents arrested 361 alleged undocumented immigrants and apprehended 14 minors at Glass House Farms during a July 14 operation, one of the largest raids under the Trump administration.
One worker, Jaime Alanís Garcia, died after falling from the roof of one of the cannabis greenhouses, and hundreds of protesters and family members of workers gathered outside the farm as agents unleashed tear gas on the crowd.
“This is not law enforcement,” Flores-Haro said. “This is systemic violence; this is white supremacy working as it should.”
Assemblymember Steve Bennett, D-Ventura, said the Trump administration is following the historic pattern of autocracies by relying on violence to enforce silence and complicity. He compared ICE agents to Hitler’s brownshirts.
“Now we have the equivalent here with the unprofessional, untrained ICE agents and the way they’re treating immigrants and American citizens here,” he said.
It is only when enough people show up for their democracy, he said, that the federal officials will back down.
Community volunteers
The local leaders praised all who have protested the injustice, including Joseph Dobzynski of 805 UndocuFund — a nonprofit that provides resources to undocumented immigrants in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Dobzynski has shown up outside the Cortez Circle facility at 5 a.m. nearly every day since June to monitor ICE activity.
“Us coming together and not being bystanders and not freezing in this moment is what is going to help us defeat this era of tyranny,” Ventura County Superintendent César Morales said.
Other volunteers of 805UndocuFund were also among the roughly 50 observers of the news conference. Several said they were grateful that Brownley was organizing the event but disappointed that it took the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens for her to do so.
Volunteer Catherine Obrien, a Camarillo resident, said she didn’t feel her representatives were doing enough. After witnessing federal agents detain undocumented immigrants firsthand, she believes ICE should be abolished.
“It makes me sick in the pit of my stomach,” she said of what she considers kidnappings. “I can’t imagine how a person could do such a thing, but that’s why I volunteer. I can’t stand by.”
A day of protest
The conference occurred the same day as groups across the country organized a national shutdown, urging individuals not to go to work, attend school or make any purchases.
Several dozen people gathered at CSU Channel Islands near Camarillo around noon on Jan. 30.
Students had organized a walkout for those on campus to come together, share information and stand in solidarity with students in Minnesota who called for the nationwide shutdown.
Others participated in the shutdown by not going to work or school, said Angelmarie Taylor, a senior and M.E.Ch.A board member. The student organization serves Chicano, Latinx and immigrant communities on campus.
“We wanted to offer this as a way to tap into the nationwide shutdown for those who have no other way,” Taylor said.
Mercedes Cacho, a junior and M.E.Ch.A board member, said they spread word, asking for people to show up if they could.
“That’s the best thing you can do,” Cacho said.
Sometimes people may not know how to channel the energy, and there’s a lot that people are absorbing right now, Cacho said.
They also asked for people to consider joining a rapid response network on campus, which provides alerts regarding ICE activity in the area.
Staff writer Cheri Carlson contributed to this story.
This story was originally published by the Ventura County Star on January 30, 2026.
Issues: 119th Congress, Immigration