INVESTIGATIONS |
Read all of Voices’ reporting on ICE detentions at Fort Hunter Liggett here.
By George B. Sánchez-Tello
The U.S. Army’s explanation for winter traffic stops and immigration detentions in South Monterey County does not accurately reflect Fort Hunter Liggett Police actions, according to federal law enforcement officials. Video taken by a Greenfield resident who has been deported to Mexico also contradicts a March 5 letter from the Pentagon sent to U.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Jimmy Panetta.
“I think this letter is alarming and it seems to be an intentional misrepresentation of what’s going on and an intentional obfuscation of policies for Fort Hunter Liggett Police,” said U.S. Air Force retired Lieutenant Colonel Rachel E. VanLandingham, an associate dean for research at Southwestern Law School.
In late December 2025, Monterey County Solidarity Network, a civil rights advocacy group for immigrants, began to report traffic stops along Jolon Road that led to immigration detentions and, in some cases, deportations. The isolated lane traverses King City and unincorporated land around Fort Hunter Liggett, the nation’s largest U.S. Army Reserves installation. Jolon Road falls under concurrent jurisdiction, meaning federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including Fort Hunter Liggett Police, California Highway Patrol and Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies all share responsibility for traffic and safety enforcement.
The traffic stops followed a similar pattern for immigrants and citizens alike: A white unmarked truck followed motorists closely for a mile or two near the Fort Hunter Liggett entrance before turning on flashing lights and initiating a stop. Motorists were told by Fort Hunter Liggett Police that they were pulled over for a minor traffic infraction — tail lights, brake lights or license plate lights were out. Within minutes, immigration agents arrived for undocumented motorists. Initially, neither local elected officials nor local law enforcement said they were aware of the stops or who was pulling over motorists.
The traffic stops seemed to halt after Voices reported on the incidents. By mid-February, Reps. Lofgren and Panetta co-authored a letter to then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.
“This letter is alarming and it seems to be an intentional misrepresentation of what’s going on and an intentional obfuscation of policies for Fort Hunter Liggett Police.” U.S. Air Force retired Lieutenant Colonel Rachel E. VanLandingham
In late February, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that 14 people were arrested and detained at Fort Hunter Liggett by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The DHS spokesperson told the Guardian the arrests happened after Fort Hunter Liggett Police contacted the local ICE officers.
The letter from Reps. Lofgren and Panetta asked if DHS had plans to utilize the base for immigration enforcement and if Fort Hunter Liggett Police, a federal civilian police agency, was patrolling Jolon Road to enforce immigration law. Lawmakers requested a response by late February. While DHS has not responded to the letter, nor questions from local media, the U.S. Army sent a response dated March 5.
“No FHL police officers are patrolling Jolon Road in an immigration enforcement capacity,” wrote W. Jordan Gillis, U.S. Army Assistant Secretary, Installations, Energy and Environment. “Patrol actions conducted by FHL police during traffic stops are consistent for all individuals, regardless of the type of driver’s licenses presented. A non-resident driver’s license does not alter standard procedures.”
But a cell phone recording by a deported Greenfield resident contradicts Gillis’ letter. Francisco Galicia shared with Radio Bilingüe, a national public radio network, and the Guardian, his own recording of a stop by Fort Hunter Liggett Police. In the recording, the officer says he contacted ICE because of Galicia’s drivers license.
“El agente luego dice que el policía de la base llamó a ICE por la identificación que presentó Francisco,” according to Radio Bilingüe. “The agent then says the base police called ICE because of the ID that Francisco showed him.”
“They are using drivers licenses,” VanLandingham said. “This letter is directly contradicted by lived experiences.”
Undocumented residents of California are eligible for a drivers license under AB 60, a law that went into effect in 2015. Licenses issued under this legislation have the phrase “federal limits apply” stamped in the upper right-hand corner. This detail is unlike standard California drivers licenses and it reveals the bearer could be undocumented.
“As an evidence professor and courtroom guy, it’s hard to think of better evidence and refutation of contrary claims than direct video,” said retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army JAG Frank Rosenblatt, president of the National Institute of Military Justice. “That alone could destroy their assertion of innocence.”
Federal law enforcement officials reached out to Voices after the full letter from the U.S. Army and its contents were published. They would not speak on the record to protect their careers and families. They were concerned that the citation of Army Regulation 190-45 and mention of two state and federal crime databases did not accurately portray Fort Hunter Liggett Police policy and the base’s own guidelines, or standing operating procedures.
“Army Regulation 190-45 requires FHL Police to inform the appropriate agency for follow on coordination if subsequent checks through California Law Enforcement Telecommunications Systems (CLETS) or National Crime Information Center (NCIC) reveal that the individual has a warrant, illegal status, or other actionable concerns,” U.S. Army Assistant Secretary Gillis wrote in his letter to the Congress members.
CLETS would not note an individual’s immigration status unless the person has a warrant for arrest, failed to appear in court, has a previous removal order or record of an illegal re-entry after deportation, according to federal law enforcement officials and immigration attorneys who also asked to speak to Voices on background. An individual identified as undocumented or “illegal” on CLETS would be the exception, not the rule, said one attorney.
An NCIC background check is typically used for someone entering the actual base — the fenced-in “cantonment” — sources said, and not for simple traffic stops outside it. Fort Hunter Liggett keeps up to 110,000 of its 165,000 acres open to the public on weekends and holidays for camping, hunting and fishing.
“It seems to be encouraging Fort Hunter Liggett Police to be engaged in immigration enforcement,” said VanLandingham. “This seems to transition Fort Hunter Liggett Police to be actively engaged, which of course would be a Posse Comitatus violation, but that’s what is actually happening.”
The Posse Comitatus act is a federal law dating from 1878 that prohibits using federal military personnel for domestic law enforcement.
"Fort Hunter Liggett knows people are watching now and there has been a paper trail created." Retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army JAG Frank Rosenblatt,
The Fort Hunter Liggett Police Department falls under Fort Hunter Liggett’s Directorate of Emergency Services. The directorate has a “standing operating procedures” manual, or SOP. Section I of Patrol Operations, part 8, devotes roughly one page of a 349-page manual to a four-step protocol for what it calls “Illegal Immigrant Processing.” (It’s immediately followed by a section about eating while on duty.)
Voices has reviewed the protocol and photos of the document.
“Personnel performing law enforcement duties will be familiar with the procedures to be followed in the event that suspected illegal immigrants are apprehended or suspected to be on the installation,” states the SOP.
The protocol addresses suspected undocumented people discovered on base or attempting to get on base, not local residents on a fishing trip like Francisco Galicia.
Fort Hunter Liggett’s SOP on processing undocumented immigrants creates a chain of communications and command from patrol officers to dispatchers, watch commanders and lead police officers about the stop and detention of undocumented individuals.
Along the chain of communications and command, a paper trail should be created and comprised of multiple reports — information from the traffic stop, an ALERTS interview form, Immigrant Alien Query (IAQ) and CLETS — according to the SOP. Background checks, known as a triple I report, require written justification from the patrol officer to request access to law enforcement databases, said federal law enforcement officials.
Fort Hunter Liggett SOP states it is police dispatchers’ responsibility to contact ICE, which would run the individual’s name through its own database. ICE, according to the protocol, would then advise Fort Hunter Liggett Police to either release the individual or hold them. If ICE decides not to pick up the person, Fort Hunter Liggett Police are to process and release the individual. Officers have up to 12 hours to hold detainees and then they must be released, according to the manual.
For suspected undocumented immigrants who have not been apprehended by Fort Hunter Liggett Police, the SOP encourages federal civilian police officers to gather data and report to ICE.
“Try to provide as much information as possible regarding the circumstances surrounding the illegal immigrants and businesses/contractors they may be [sic] work for and their locations,” states the SOP.
Nearly 30 percent of Monterey County’s population of 436,000 are foreign-born, according to the 2024 Census, and nearly 42,000 people work in agriculture in Monterey and San Benito Counties. Nationwide, 74% of agriculture workers are not U.S. citizens and approximately 50 percent of hired farmworkers are undocumented, the report states.
Questions about the Fort Hunter Liggett Police SOP guidelines were emailed on March 25 to U.S. Army Reserve Public Affairs Amy Phillips, Fort Hunter Liggett Staff Judge Advocate Major Bill Druffel and Bernard Gotmer.
“Thank you for your inquiry. As we have stated previously, we will not comment on our law enforcement procedures,” reads a March 27 response signed only “Fort Hunter Liggett Public Affairs.”
“Furthermore, the possession and/or dissemination of official materials and information classified as ‘For Official Use Only’ without the appropriate security clearance and need to know is a violation of federal law.”
The document is marked “controlled unclassified information.”
Calls were made March 26 to Fort Hunter Liggett Police Chief Randall McKlin and Directorate of Emergency Services Richard Camacho. Neither has responded.
“Fort Hunter Liggett knows people are watching now and there has been a paper trail created,” said Rosenblatt, the retired JAG. “The FOIA response shows that the Pentagon is attuned to public concerns. They know the public in many places is worried about military support to civilian law enforcement and ICE in particular.”
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