Santa Ana Looks to Boost Immigrant Protections Amid Federal Crackdown

Santa Ana – sitting successful the bosom of Orange County – could beryllium connected way to fortify migrant protections successful a bulk Latino metropolis portion President Donald Trump moves to ace down connected immigration. 

It comes arsenic Huntington Beach goes successful the other direction, declaring itself an anti-sanctuary metropolis past period and directing its section constabulary section to enactment with national migration officials – sidestepping authorities sanctuary law. 

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

Now, Santa Ana Councilwoman Jessie Lopez wants her colleagues to reconvene a radical that was created to counsel officials connected policies they could instrumentality to assistance support immigrants from deportation successful the county’s lone sanctuary city. 

At Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. metropolis assembly meeting, assembly members are slated to see Lopez’s petition to reboot the city’s Sanctuary Policy Advisory Group wrong 30 days aft a astir 5 twelvemonth hiatus successful effect to Trump’s migration crackdown.

“We cannot disregard what is happening close now,” Lopez said successful a Thursday telephone interview. “No household should beryllium torn isolated due to the fact that of their migration status.” 

Tuesday’s gathering comes astatine a clip erstwhile undocumented residents successful Orange County – location to astir a cardinal overseas calved immigrants – are uncertain of what Trump’s migration directives could mean for their aboriginal successful the U.S.

“This is our 2nd rodeo with the Trump administration. It’s scary for residents,” said Carlos Perea, enforcement manager of the Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice, successful a Thursday telephone interview.

The metropolis is location to implicit 310,000 residents, 77% of which are Latino, 12% are Asian and 9% are white. An estimated 41% of residents are overseas born, according to the U.S. Census. 

While there’s nary disposable estimates connected however galore undocumented residents are surviving successful Santa Ana, there’s an estimated 236,000 undocumented immigrants surviving successful Orange County, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

4th Street successful Downtown Santa Ana connected April 5, 2024. Credit: GIL BOTHWELL, Voice of OC.

Perea, who helped constitute the city’s sanctuary ordinance, is raising concerns and questions astir Lopez’s petition to reinstate the advisory group.

He said the radical was intended to beryllium impermanent and different boards similar the city’s constabulary oversight committee – which helium is simply a portion of – tin measurement successful connected immigration.

Lopez said the oversight committee has not met owed to quorum issues and the committee is not made up of migration experts.

“It’s beauteous silly to accidental that we should not convene a radical of experts that not lone person been academically trained, but that bash this enactment time successful and out,” she said.

“Hopefully, my peers volition hold that by bringing backmost this advisory radical we tin guarantee that argumentation decisions are backed by adept investigation and existent data.”

Perea besides raised concerns astir the Immigration Defenders – the ineligible work providers who the metropolis has antecedently contracted with to support Santa Ana residents from deportation – allegedly not taking connected analyzable deportation cases not serving the Vietnamese and Asian community.

“We person superior questions regarding the provider, and what this task unit volition mean successful either continuing to coddle the supplier oregon challenging the information that determination needs to beryllium immoderate restructuring of the program,” Perea said.

Lopez agreed it was important the work should beryllium applied equitably. 

Renee Garcia, spokesperson for Immigration Defenders, did not respond to an email petition for comment.

According to the city website, metropolis officials opened a hunt astatine the extremity of 2024 looking for a instrumentality steadfast to support Santa Ana residents from deportation nether a $300,000 a twelvemonth declaration arsenic portion of the city’s deportation defence money that started successful 2017.

Immigration Defenders person bid to supply the city’s migration ineligible defence services again.

The advisory radical would besides beryllium tasked with recommending ways to usage and oversee the deportation defence fund.

[Read: Santa Ana Could Pave The Way for More Undocumented City Commissioners, Plans More Defense From Deportations]

Roberto Herrera, a subordinate of the OC Rapid Response Network, said successful a Thursday substance connection that oversight is needed to proceed the spot that was built with the city’s sanctuary ordinance.

“Reviving that oversight constituent adds credibility to the City successful a infinitesimal of truthful overmuch uncertainty,” reads the statement. 

The web is simply a conjugation of organizations that advocator for migrant rights and tracks accusation connected ICE raids.

Santa Ana’s Sanctuary Policy Advisory Group

Santa Ana City Hall connected April 6, 2024. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC

Santa Ana became the archetypal metropolis successful Orange County to state itself a sanctuary metropolis soon aft Trump was archetypal elected successful 2016. 

Officials besides adopted an ordinance barring metropolis unit and resources to beryllium utilized to enforce migration law.

City officials besides established the advisory radical to assistance trade policies to support immigrants arsenic good arsenic urge ways to usage and oversee a metropolis money to assistance immigrants combat deportation successful court.

According to Lopez’s written request, the advisory radical hasn’t met since 2020 and officials stopped receiving updates astir the group’s actions.

“This deficiency of engagement and accountability airs imaginable risks to the continuity and effectiveness of the city’s migrant extortion measures,” reads her request.

Lopez is calling for the radical to reconvene wrong 30 days arsenic good arsenic to supply updates to metropolis officials each period connected the city’s deportation defence money and recommendations connected ways they tin amended support residents.

She besides wants the radical to measure the effectiveness of existent metropolis sanctuary policies. 

Lopez said if her point passes the metropolis manager volition beryllium directed to scope retired to the founding members of the advisory radical which she said includes groups similar Immigration Defenders, the ACLU, UC Irvine and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities.

“They are the folks doing this work, time successful and time retired and truthful we really, truly request folks that are successful this world, entrenched successful deportation defence to beryllium capable to usher our metropolis manager and the assembly successful the close direction,” she said.

Federal Immigration Enforcement’s Impact connected Orange County

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

Lopez’s petition comes arsenic questions support mounting connected whether section instrumentality enforcement volition enforce national migration directives oregon travel California’s sanctuary authorities instrumentality – which forbids constabulary from cooperating and enforcing national migration laws.

Last month, 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 bureau (ICE).

State officials similar Attorney General Rob Bonta – an migrant himself – are pushing backmost against the president arguing that the courts person already upheld California’s sanctuary authorities law.

OC Sheriff Don Barnes besides said he’ll proceed pursuing authorities sanctuary law. 

[Read: How is Orange County Going to Handle Trump’s Immigration Crackdown?]

At a Jan. 24 quality conference, Bonta said section instrumentality enforcement crossed California is expected to abide by authorities law.

“We volition beryllium prepared to enactment if determination is not compliance, but these are instrumentality enforcement agencies. They enforce the law, they travel the law. We expect compliance,” Bonta said. 

His remarks came 1 time aft U.S. borderline patrol agents detained a twelve migrants astatine the Dana Point harbor and impounded a boat, according to a associated Jan. 23 quality merchandise from Congressman Mike Levin and OC Supervisor Katrina Foley.

Meanwhile, Huntington Beach officials unanimously voted successful January 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.  

Some section elected officials successful OC are besides saying they are going to motorboat efforts to amended residents astir their rights erstwhile it comes to migration laws.

OC Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, a erstwhile Santa Ana mayor, said successful a Jan. 23 written connection to the Voice of OC that helium plans to enactment with assemblage organizations to sermon ways to guarantee migrant rights are protected.

“In the coming weeks, I volition convene groups of section leaders, non-profits, and members of the public, to code the fearfulness that residents whitethorn beryllium experiencing and to sermon actions we tin instrumentality to guarantee the rights of each communities are protected,” reads the statement.

Perea said he’d similar to spot much charter cities successful the region follow sanctuary metropolis ordinances similar Santa Ana and non charter cities walk resolutions against wide deportations.

“They tin follow beardown resolutions being precise wide that they basal against wide deportations, and past they basal against Trump’s agenda,” helium said. 

“They mightiness beryllium symbolic resolutions but it sends a consciousness of alleviation to their residents.”

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.

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