Federal immigration agents [violently detained a 20-year-old U.S. citizen](https://keyt.com/news/santa-maria-north-county/2026/10/22/santa-maria-man-says-he-was-beaten-and-hospitalized-by-federal-agents-wednesday/) and Santa Maria (Calif.) High School student with special needs on Wednesday morning, according to school and city officials.

The student, who has limited verbal communication and is on an individualized education program, was walking to school around 7 a.m. when two agents tackled him from behind, questioned him about his citizenship and restrained him in their vehicle. He was eventually released in the area where he was picked up and walked to school, where officials called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital, said Santa Maria City Councilmember Gloria Soto.

The student underwent surgery for injuries to his wrist, she said, and was left with bruises and lacerations.

Soto said a school resource officer obtained security footage from a nearby grocery store and confirmed that the people who had detained the student are agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

...

Glenn Goldin, a retired special education teacher at Santa Maria High who still mentors the student who was detained, said he worked for a long time to build the confidence to walk by himself to school. Now he’s wary of returning to school.

The student told Goldin that he saw a black car pull up and kept walking. The agents were masked and didn’t announce who they were, but he noticed they wore vests that said “POLICE ICE.” The student told Goldin that he had his Real ID in his wallet, but the agents didn’t ask to see it.

“He told them repeatedly that the handcuffs were too tight and they were hurting him,” Goldin said.

Goldin said the student has no family and lives in a group home for adults with developmental disabilities.

After the agents released him, the student walked to school, crying and in pain. His teacher saw him and dialed 911, Goldin said.

...

“Our community is living in terror right now and this needs to stop,” she said, referencing a [recent uptick in immigration arrests](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-10-14/very-few-people-out-in-streets-ice-surge-rattles-californias-central-valley) across central California. “I’m a mother, and the thought of my child not being safe walking to school is frightening.”

The Santa Maria Police Department declined to comment and referred questions to ICE.