Who to call if you see immigration agents in the Bay Area

This page is general information, not legal advice. It covers who to call and how to help others. Your own rights if agents stop you or come to your door are on If immigration agents come.

Is there a hotline I can call?

Yes. Each county has a rapid response line, open day and night. Call it. A trained team checks the report. If it is real, they can send people to observe and help connect the person and family to legal help.

The San Mateo number starts with 203, which is not a Bay Area area code. It is the right number. The County also writes it as (203) NO MIGRA (County of San Mateo). The County has printable cards and posters in Chinese (Simplified), English, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog and Tongan. Neither county says which languages the phone line offers, so ask when you call.

These lines are for enforcement activity and detentions. Santa Clara's network says its hotline is not for general immigration questions (Sacred Heart). For those, see Free legal help in the Bay Area, or dial 211.

What should I report?

Seeing agents near your home can shake you. Calling is how you help. Call when you see possible immigration agents in your neighborhood, at a home, at work or near a school, or when someone you know has been detained. Tell the team what you see. You do not need to give your own immigration status.

Helpful details:

• Where: the street address, cross streets or a landmark
• When: the time you saw it, and whether it is still going on
• What you see: how many officers, what their vests or jackets say, their vehicles and license plates
• What is happening: someone being questioned, arrested or taken away

If someone was detained, the San Mateo County card asks for the person's full name, date of birth, country of origin and, if you have it, their A number (the case number on immigration papers).

What should I not do?

• Do not share rumors. Do not post or forward a sighting until the hotline team has checked it. These teams exist to verify reports, because false alarms spread fear and keep families home from school, work and worship. When a report is confirmed, share only what the team shares.
• Protect people's privacy. Do not post the face, name, home or car of the person being detained. Give what you saw to their family, their lawyer or the hotline team instead.
• Do not get in the way. Federal law makes it a crime to forcibly resist, impede or interfere with federal officers. Do not touch an officer, block a vehicle or step between an officer and the person they are detaining (18 U.S.C. 111).

How can I watch and record safely?

In California, taking a photo or video of an officer in a public place, or from a place where you have a right to be, is not a crime by itself. It is also not, by itself, a reason to detain or arrest you. That is California law (Penal Code 148(g)). Immigration agents are federal officers, and federal law makes it a crime to forcibly interfere with them, so stay back and keep out of their way.

If you choose to watch or record:

• Think about your own risk first. If you are not a citizen, or you feel unsafe, it is fine to stay back and call the hotline. Trained volunteers can come.
• Stay back. Keep enough distance that officers can move freely. If an officer tells you to step back, step back, and keep recording if you can.
• Film openly and keep your hands where they can be seen.
• Stay on public ground. A store or other private property can set its own rules about filming.
• Record facts: the time, the place, the agency name and badge numbers if you can see them, and vehicles and plates. Say the date and place out loud at the start.
• You can stay silent. You do not have to answer questions. For your rights if an officer stops you, see If immigration agents come.
• Give the video to the family or their lawyer, not to social media. It may help the person's case.

What does a good report sound like?

Example only. The details are made up.

"Hi, I want to report possible immigration agents. I'm at the corner of Bay Road and University Avenue in East Palo Alto, near the bus stop. It's 7:40 in the morning and it's still going on. I see three officers in dark vests that say POLICE and ICE, and two gray SUVs. One plate starts with 8ABC. They are talking to a man at the bus stop. I don't know him. I'm across the street and I'm safe."

That is all the team needs to start. You do not have to give your name or your status. If you can, stay on the line and answer their questions.

What if I live somewhere else?

• Elsewhere in California: find your county's line on the statewide rapid response hotline list kept by the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, a nonprofit (updated February 3, 2026). For example, Los Angeles lists the Los Angeles Raids and Rapid Response Network at 888-624-4752. Save your number before you need it.
• Outside California: ask a local legal aid group or immigrant rights group whether your area has a rapid response line. The DOJ list of free legal service providers lists groups by state.
• Everywhere: the advice on this page about what to report, not spreading rumors, and staying back still applies. The California recording law does not apply in other states, but the federal rule against interfering with officers applies everywhere.

How can I help the family afterward?

Show up. A family in this moment needs people beside them.

• Call the hotline if no one has yet. In both counties the teams help connect a detained person to immigration lawyers. Santa Clara's network also sends accompaniment teams to support the family.
• Find where the person is held. ICE has an Online Detainee Locator. Search by A number and country of birth, or by name and country of birth. A person may not show up right away, and children under 18 are not listed.
• Help them find a real lawyer. See Free legal help in the Bay Area and How to find a trusted lawyer. Warn them about anyone who promises a fast release for money: Warning signs of an immigration scam.
• Care for the children. If the family made a family preparedness plan, follow it. If not, help them reach the trusted adult the children know.
• Bring food, rides and company. Ask what they need. Keep what you know private.
• Care for hearts too. Fear and grief are normal. See Mental health care without fear.

Who can help?

Contact them to confirm hours, languages and openings. Being listed here is not a referral or a promise of service.

• San Mateo County Rapid Response Hotline (Faith in Action), for San Mateo County residents: (203) 666-4472, 24/7. County of San Mateo rapid response page
• Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network, for Santa Clara County residents: (408) 290-1144, 24/7. County of Santa Clara Office of Immigrant Relations and Rapid Response Network (Sacred Heart Community Service)
• Other California counties: statewide hotline list (CCIJ)
• Know your rights cards to carry and share: Red cards

Print a card for your wallet