ICE officers visit Costa Mesa park in operation against undocumented convicts

Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were at Costa Mesa’s Lions Park on Wednesday morning as part of an operation targeting undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of crimes, an ICE spokeswoman said.

“The operation remains ongoing, so no further information is available at this time,” said Lori Haley, spokeswoman for ICE Public Affairs.

Art Goddard, a Costa Mesa Historical Society volunteer, said that when he arrived at the Historical Society building in Lions Park at 9:30 a.m., he saw about a dozen men and women in the parking lot wearing dark shirts with “ICE Police” emblazoned on them in white lettering.

After about 20 minutes, the officers got in their cars and left in different directions, Goddard said.

“You do see Costa Mesa police and Costa Mesa park rangers go through here on a daily basis, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen ICE here,” he said.

Goddard added that the park, at 570 W. 18th St., “has been fairly quiet” recently.

Costa Mesa officials say criminal activity at Lions Park has been reduced significantly as the city has targeted drug-related and other illicit behavior there.