How is Orange County Going to Handle Trump’s Immigration Crackdown?

Questions are surfacing astir however Orange County volition grip President Donald Trump’s migration crackdown successful a region location to astir 1 cardinal foreign-born residents. 

“Many of our constituents close now, I tin corroborate with you, they are not working. They are afraid,” Santa Ana Councilwoman Jessie Lopez said successful a Wednesday telephone interview.

This week, officials successful the Trump medication indicated the U.S. Department of Justice could probe section officials for not cooperating with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, according to assorted quality outlets, including the Associated Press. 

“This is unprecedented successful galore ways, and there’s a batch of fearfulness successful our community,” Lopez said. 

It comes aft Huntington Beach City Council members unanimously voted this week to sidestep California’s sanctuary instrumentality and nonstop their constabulary section to enactment with ICE portion they again writer the state implicit California’s sanctuary law.  

[Read: Huntington Beach Disregards California’s Sanctuary Laws, Directs Police to Work With ICE]

At the aforesaid time, immoderate Santa Ana City Council members – including Lopez – publically said they would assistance support undocumented immigrants successful a municipality that declared itself a sanctuary metropolis shortly aft Trump’s archetypal predetermination successful 2016. 

“There’s a batch of cities successful betwixt the extremes of Huntington Beach and Santa Ana and they conscionable privation to support their heads down for the adjacent 4 years and that is simply a scary spot to be,” said Fullerton College prof and section authorities adept Jodi Balma successful a Thursday telephone interview. 

California’s sanctuary law bars instrumentality enforcement agencies from honoring ICE detainer requests unless that person’s been convicted of a convulsive oregon superior felony.  The detainer asks instrumentality enforcement officials to notify ICE if an undocumented idiosyncratic is astir to beryllium released from jailhouse and could see a 48-hour hold. 

In Anaheim – wherever officials declared the municipality to beryllium a welcoming city to immigrants during Trump’s archetypal word successful bureau – officials accidental they are intimately monitoring the legality of the directives coming from the White House and volition proceed pursuing authorities law.

Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said the Anaheim Police Department does not enforce immoderate benignant of national laws, and added that migration policies similar Trump’s onslaught fearfulness among immigrants careless of ineligible status.

“We person our constabulary unit bash what they privation to do, which is support Anaheim residents safe,” she said successful a Thursday telephone interview.  

“As a metropolis that was built by immigrants and whose system would clang if immigrants felt unsafe to unfastened up their tiny businesses oregon spell to their jobs successful the edifice district, it’s imperative that we fto radical cognize that we are going to proceed to beryllium a welcoming city.”

An Uncertain Future

Balma said the threats from the Trump medication implicit enforcing national migration laws is moving to unprecedented ground. 

“We’re going wherever determination are nary roads,” she said, adding it besides raises questions astir however the national authorities interacts with authorities and section governments. 

“That is not however a law ideology is expected to operate,” Balma said. 

State officials are already pushing back.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state’s sanctuary instrumentality is wide – Golden State instrumentality enforcement officials are not allowed to usage payer dollars to enforce national migration laws.

“This is simply a scare tactic, plain and simple. The President is attempting to intimidate and bully authorities and section instrumentality enforcement into carrying retired his wide deportation docket for him,” helium said successful a Jan. 22 quality release.

“We’ll beryllium prepared to instrumentality ineligible enactment if the Trump Administration’s vague threats crook to amerciable action.”

Opponents of Supervisor Michelle Steel’s solution condemning sanctuary cities amusement up to dependable their enactment for sanctuary polices. March 27, 2018. Credit: SPENCER CUSTODIO, Voice of OC

OC Sheriff Don Barnes said it’s not deputies’ occupation to assistance way down undocumented immigrants, and that their enactment is focused connected transgression violations of authorities and section law.

“These laws are enforced equally, without bias, and without respect for one’s migration status,” Barnes said successful a Thursday statement. “We bash not interfere successful the enactment of different instrumentality enforcement agencies carrying retired their mission.” 

But Barnes besides highlighted however authorities instrumentality inactive allows sheriffs to transportation “certain superior offenders to ICE,” and that helium believes the state’s existent sanctuary laws marque it harder for instrumentality enforcement to bash their jobs. 

“The ongoing situation astatine our borderline and impacts connected section assemblage airs a important hazard to nationalist safety,” Barnes said. “Full practice with national agencies similar ICE would enactment California instrumentality enforcement successful a amended presumption to mitigate that risk.”

Bonta has already filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s enforcement bid to extremity birthright citizenship for children of undocumented residents calved successful the U.S. aft Feb. 19 claiming it violates the constitution’s 14th amendment.

More than 20 different states person besides joined successful connected challenging the Trump administration’s effort to extremity birthright citizenship.

On Thursday, a national justice temporarily blocked Trump’s enforcement bid to effort to extremity birthright citizenship, according to the Associated Press.

There are astir 967,000 foreign-born residents successful Orange County, according to estimates from 2023 by the U.S. Census bureau.

According to the Migration Policy Institute – a nonprofit deliberation vessel with a wide scope of funders – there’s an estimated 236,000 undocumented immigrants surviving successful Orange County, 73% of whom are from Mexico and Central America, portion 21% are from Asia. 

Balma said she expects the migration concern to play retired successful court. 

“I deliberation section officials should expect that they are going to beryllium investigated, prosecuted,” she said. 

Will OC Cities Cooperate With a Federal Immigration Crackdown?

A pistillate holds a motion successful absorption to authorities sanctuary laws astatine the April 12, 2018 Westminster City Council meeting. Credit: SPENCER CUSTODIO, Voice of OC

While it’s unclear however the national migration enforcement menace is going to play retired successful Orange County, a big of cities – including the OC Board of Supervisors – admonished California’s instrumentality successful 2018. 

At the time, region Supervisors besides voted to motion onto a national suit against the sanctuary laws, which were upheld successful national tribunal successful 2019.

And portion Surf City is again suing the authorities implicit the laws, the municipality lost a akin suit successful 2020.

In Santa Ana – the county’s lone sanctuary city – 2 officials person pledged to support immigrants astatine Tuesday’s metropolis assembly meeting. 

Councilwoman Lopez said it’s clip for the metropolis to treble down connected their committedness to support residents careless of their migration presumption and follow policies that support and supply resources for undocumented people.

Lopez said she has asked metropolis unit to make an informational tab connected migration rights and resources connected the metropolis website and that section constabulary officers are mandated to abide by Santa Ana’s Sanctuary City ordinance.

“In past practices, our section has been determination erstwhile ICE has made arrests, and truthful we truly privation to marque definite that we are closing these loopholes, and that we stock that information, not conscionable with the metropolis manager, but with the chief, and that we are each successful alignment that this is not allowed to hap successful our city,” she said.

She besides said the metropolis volition beryllium focusing connected 3 main initiatives successful effect to Trump’s directives: beefing up the city’s sanctuary metropolis law, bringing backmost a nonmigratory advisory radical to marque recommendations connected sanctuary policies and allocating wealth to enactment residents impacted by ICE raids.

Anaheim City Hall connected July 23, 2024. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC

Officials successful Anaheim accidental they volition abide by the state’s sanctuary law.

Anaheim spokesperson Mike Lyster said successful an email Wednesday that the metropolis isn’t straight progressive with enforcing migration laws and leaves that up to national agencies.

Lyster added the metropolis volition travel authorities instrumentality and would lone disagree from it done tribunal oregon judge’s order.

“At the aforesaid time, we bash not obstruct immoderate national oregon different instrumentality enforcement successful our city,” Lyster wrote. “Where migration is enforced successful Anaheim, we inquire that it beryllium fair, lawful and focused connected nationalist safety.”

Mayor Aitken said her main interest is to support residents and reassure migrant communities successful Anaheim that they are safe.

“They should spell connected surviving and conducting their lives arsenic they usually do,” she said  “Our constabulary officers privation radical that are the victims of transgression to consciousness comfy reporting those crimes to their section constabulary section and not unrecorded successful fear.”

Aitken besides said the metropolis is moving to assistance amended migrant residents connected their rights.

“We are processing a handout for our residents, for them to cognize their rights and to person interaction accusation to nonprofits successful the metropolis that tin reply their circumstantial questions,” she said.

“We are truly assured that our policies that are successful spot are capable to support our residents, but we request to marque definite that we instrumentality that 2nd step, which is educating and reminding radical astir these policies.”

Editor’s note: Ashleigh Aitken’s father, Wylie Aitken, chairs Voice of OC’s committee of directors.

Reporter Noah Biesiada contributed to this story. 

Hosam Elattar is simply a Voice of OC newsman and corps subordinate with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him astatine helattar@voiceofoc.org oregon connected Twitter @ElattarHosam.

Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You tin scope him astatine scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him connected Twitter @SpencerCustodio.

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