Witness video appeared to show immigration enforcement officers detaining an older man outside Sunnymead Elementary School in Moreno Valley on Wednesday morning, just as students were arriving for class. It was one of at least four separate immigration-enforcement sightings reported across the city that morning, leaving parents and community members rattled.
According to ABC7 Los Angeles, the sightings were reported at multiple locations around Moreno Valley, including near Ellsworth Street and Goldencrest Drive, Indian Street and Bay Avenue, a McDonald's on Alessandro Boulevard, and outside Sunnymead Elementary itself. A bystander who witnessed one of the incidents was recorded saying, “You guys gotta stop ripping families apart.”
Parent Angela Alvarez said officers should not be conducting enforcement in front of children, recalling that kids nearby were shouting “la migra” as the activity unfolded. Resident Miguel Ibarra described the mood in the community as fearful, saying it feels “very scared and on edge.” Another resident, identified only as Isaac, called the activity heartbreaking because those swept up were simply working to make a living.
Coalition Says Six Arrests Happened in Hours
The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice sent its rapid response team to verify reports across Moreno Valley and assist affected families, per the station's report. The group's deputy director, identified as Lizbeth, said at least six arrests took place in less than two and a half hours. ABC7 noted it had not independently confirmed that total, which the coalition said was based on reports verified by its own rapid response team.
The coalition also said many of those arrested were workers who served as primary providers for their families. Parents told the outlet this marked the second immigration-enforcement-related incident reported outside Sunnymead Elementary in recent weeks, deepening worry that the activity was discouraging school attendance. Some parents said they had volunteered to transport students whose families may now be hesitant to leave home.
Angela Alvarez offered a striking illustration of that fear: her son's classroom had 35 students the week before, she said, but he brought home just 11 cupcakes when classmates celebrated his birthday — a sign, in her view, of how many families had stopped sending their kids to school.
DHS Response Offers Few Details
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE would not disclose or discuss law enforcement operations, citing operational security and officer safety. DHS added in a statement that the agency enforces national laws every day across the country, including in California. Officials did not provide additional details about the specific operations reported in Moreno Valley.
The uncertainty in Moreno Valley echoes a broader pattern researchers have tracked across Southern California. A study from UCLA and UC Berkeley found that nearly 15,000 people arrested by ICE across the seven-county Los Angeles field office region — which includes Riverside County — in 2025 and 2026 to date were eventually deported, according to UCLA Newsroom. Of those arrested between January 2025 and May 2026, 62% were deported within 60 days, while only 7% were released from detention in that window.
The same research pointed to a sharp rise in at-large arrests — meaning arrests made in neighborhoods, communities, at ICE check-ins, and at immigration courthouses rather than in custodial settings — as a defining feature of enforcement since 2025, with activity climbing again starting in June 2026 to just over half of the previous year's peak.
Pattern Seen Elsewhere in the Region
Reporting from The Riverside Record found that federal data shared by the White House showed 110 arrests in the city of Riverside between January 2025 and May of this year, while nearby Moreno Valley, Jurupa Valley, and Corona each saw fewer than 50. The outlet also mapped 29 social media posts over the past year containing verified evidence of federal agents' presence, with documented activity concentrated more heavily in communities with larger Latino populations.
Enforcement near schools has drawn concern beyond the Inland Empire. In San Diego, ICE agents detained a second-year student at San Diego City College in September as he drove near campus, chasing another student onto school grounds, per EdSource. The next day, agents arrested the parents of a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old about a block from their children's school, just after drop-off, and a teacher told EdSource that agents detained a neighbor within 100 feet of Hamilton Elementary about an hour before the first bell.
Further north, the California Immigrant Policy Center said in mid-October that partners had reported rising arrests spreading from the Central Valley into the Central Coast and San Diego, including an operation reportedly dubbed Operation Safe California that began in the San Diego area and was expected to run at least 45 days. The group also noted that Allan Hancock College officials confirmed federal officers detained a student's father in a campus parking lot in Santa Maria on October 5. Around the same time, Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias told the Los Angeles Times that enforcement surges were tied to a drop in school attendance and fewer workers showing up to farm jobs, describing it as an across-the-board reduction felt throughout the Central Valley.
