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Scrrenshot, left, of Escondido City Council meeting from Feb. 18 courtesy city of Escondido website video
By Karen Pearlman
Feb. 24, 2026 (Escondido) -- The city of Escondido is bracing for a charged City Council meeting tomorrow (Feb. 25), as elected officials prepare to publicly look at a quietly renewed agreement allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to train at a city-owned firing range — a contract some say they never knew existed.
The open session part of the meeting starts at 5 p.m. at first item on the City Council agenda is a presentation by Escondido Chief of Police Ken Plunkett, which will center around the Escondido Police Department firing range and corresponding contracts.
Before the City Council meeting at Escondido City Council Chambers, 201 North Broadway in Escondido, a rally and press conference led by Escondido Indivisible is scheduled for outside City Hall asking the city to cancel the contract with ICE.
The controversy centers on the Escondido Police Department's 22-acre firing range at 25855 Valley Center Road. The site is a secluded facility the EPD has operated for more than 60 years, and has routinely leased to other law enforcement agencies for their practice shooting needs.
What has drawn public attention this year has been the renewal of a specific arrangement with the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency that oversees ICE.
The current contract was signed Jan. 14, 2026 by Plunkett, who was hired late last year and has been in charge of the department since last September.
The contract shows charges to the DHS $22,500 for a one-year lease that runs through January 2027. The deal includes two one-year options to extend through 2029 — bringing the total potential contract value to $67,500. Under the agreement, up to 200 Homeland Security Investigations special agents may use the range in groups of 20 for 20 days per year.
Last Friday, a group of local constituents made an in-person Public Records Request in Escondido. Those involved with a group known as the Sowing Seeds of Dignity Coalition said they are looking for answers from Escondido Mayor Dane White and Plunkett about the city's communications with and cooperative efforts with ICE.
Working with the group is attorney and activist Salvador G. Sarmiento, a campaign director for National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
Sarmiento said: "The main thing... is that the contract raises serious questions and concerns in the community about public safety and civil rights, especially given what we are all witnessing in Minnesota.
"The fact that the contract exists is crazy... We are facing local and national elected leaders that are listening more to their party leaders in Palm Beach, Florida, than their own residents in Escondido or San Diego."
Activists are saying that at a time when DHS -- particularly ICE -- have expanded cooperation and joint operations, continuing to provide local police training resources to federal agencies raises serious concerns about public trust, accountability and the appropriate use of city facilities.
Since early 2025, DHS has coordinated actions among its agencies to support or enable ICE activities that include surveillance, arrests and detention operations. Many of these operations -- which reportedly have led to deaths, wrongful detentions, excessive use of force, and Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights violations -- have been roundly questioned and criticized.
The Sowing Seeds of Dignity Coalition reports reports that from May through October 2025, ICE arrests in the San Diego and Imperial region surged 1,500%, and that when looking at North County cities, Escondido had the highest number of immigration arrests compared to all other neighboring cities (based on data from June 2025).
Background on the relationship and range use
For using the Escondido PD's firing range located at the border of Escondido and Valley Center, DHS agents are required to bring their own range master and equipment, and EPD has stated that no joint training between city police and ICE takes place.
The contract was never put to a public vote.
Under Escondido's procurement guidelines, the City Council only reviews contracts exceeding $200,000. Department heads, including the police chief, can sign agreements up to $75,000 without council or public approval. Falling beneath that threshold, Plunkett signed the technically routine contract administratively.
Mayor White and EPD leadership maintain the arrangement is entirely administrative and compliant with SB 54, California's Values Act, which limits local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
In a public statement, White said: "While the Escondido Police Department routinely trains with law enforcement partners at the local, state, and federal levels, the department remains fully compliant with SB 54 and does not participate in or cooperate with immigration enforcement."
Reports say that the contract has been continuously renewed since at least 2014, and the city maintains that it does not profit from the arrangement — the fee is intended only as cost recovery.
Community 'up in arms'
Local activists and immigrant rights organizations like Sowing Seeds of Dignity are demanding not just the contract's termination, but broader transparency about EPD's historical relationship with federal enforcement agencies.
The current contract does contain a termination for convenience clause, meaning the City Council has the legal authority to cancel it at any time, for any reason, with proper notice.
Activists will be at the City Council meeting on Wednesday to push for that authority, looking for the city of Escondido to do any or all of the following: decline to renew the DHS training agreement at its next expiration; cancel the current contract; end DHS use of EPD training facilities; and reaffirm that city resources will not be used to support agencies engaged in aggressive, unlawful or unconstitutional enforcement practices.
The meeting is streamed here. Council meetings are broadcast live on Cox Cable Channel 19 and are replayed the following Sunday and Monday evenings at 6 pm. Meetings are also available in the Meeting Broadcasts page here.
Earlier this week, city leaders received a letter signed by more than 30 regional elected officials urging the council to cancel the contract and reject any future agreements with DHS agencies involved in immigration enforcement. See the letter here.
"We cannot control what activities ICE agents may engage in as they utilize and commute to Escondido's firing range," the letter reads. "This makes all of your constituents less safe and erodes the public trust that you as elected officials have a responsibility to uphold."
The contract's existence was first reported by L.A. Taco on Jan. 22.
A community petition started by Richard Wolters followed, calling for cancellation of the partnership. It has gathered more than 2,500 signatures.
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