Sex worker advocacy groups are criticizing Santa Clara County’s increased funding for anti-trafficking operations ahead of Super Bowl LX, scheduled for Feb. 8 at Levi Stadium. The groups claim the operations target sex workers rather than actual trafficking victims.
Santa Clara County supervisors approved additional funding for human trafficking enforcement during the Super Bowl period, according to documents from a Dec. 15, 2025 county Human Trafficking Commission hearing. The operations will include a multi-agency center in Sunnyvale staffed by local, state and federal law enforcement including the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
Lieutenant Josh Singleton of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation requested $27,456 in overtime funding for county officers. The funding covers six full-time employees and five additional investigators at an average overtime rate of $156 per hour during the operational window from Jan. 25 to Feb. 7.
“Using the term human trafficking as a euphemism for prostitution sting operations is just dishonest,” said Antonia Crane of the Strippers Worker Center. She argued that people arrested in prostitution stings are labeled as trafficking victims without evidence of actual traffickers, potentially inflating statistics.
Maxine Doogan of the Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project expressed concern about Immigration and Customs Enforcement participation in the operations. She cited recent immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota as raising deportation risks for those arrested.
The advocates also criticized California’s AB 379 law, which criminalizes loitering with intent to purchase commercial sex acts. They argue the provision could lead to arrests of non-English speakers who may not understand police interactions, potentially placing them in deportation proceedings despite California’s sanctuary state protections under SB 54.
The coalition Stop the Raids plans to hold a rally on Feb. 2 from 3-5 p.m. at the San Jose Convention Center to protest the enforcement operations and advocate for prostitution decriminalization.
