ICE presence frays politics in Santa Ana, Orange County's only sanctuary city

The Santa Ana City Council meeting this evening is shaping up to be a contentious one.

The city is the only self-designated “sanctuary city” in Orange County — signifying that city leadership stands with immigrants and limits cooperation with immigration enforcement. Now, with the federal government increasing immigration raids and ICE detentions, that designation and what it means is being tested.

Immigrant rights groups and activists in Orange County have posted on social media asking residents to show up and speak during the public comment portion of the meeting to voice their dissent at the presence of federal law enforcement agents in the city.

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How we got here

Mayor Valerie Amezcua in particular is facing backlash for her response to the protests that broke out following immigration enforcement actions that included rubber bullets and tear gas.

At first, the mayor was seen as criticizing the initial protests held over a week ago.

“At some point this protest became nothing but pure chaos and violence,” she wrote in a Facebook post, adding that other elected officials in attendance were “condoning this destruction!!!”

Amezcua struck a different tone in a subsequent post on the city’s website, saying “the vast majority of those involved in the demonstrations, they have participated peacefully and without incident.” She added: “I do not support the ongoing immigration raids or the militarized escalation by the federal government in our streets.”

So what's the problem?

Critics, however, say it’s not enough.

The Francisco Torres Center for Racial Justice accused the mayor of trying to “twist the narrative” and say the mayor has not done enough to block immigration raids and ICE roundups.

“Mayor Amezcua failed Santa Ana, she has allowed SAPD to collaborate with ICE, DHS, and the National Guard, enabling the occupation of the city,” the center’s statement said.

Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez said that more than 70% of the city’s residents are Latino, mostly of Mexican descent, and a lot of them are very scared.

“They're afraid to come out. We're seeing children not coming out of their homes and going into parks. We're seeing people not go to work. And we're seeing a lot of people who are just simply so afraid that they are considering leaving this country,” he said.

People, he added, are feeling like they are being hunted down and the city’s police department is providing a pathway for federal agents to detain residents and stifle dissent — flying in the face of Santa Ana’s sanctuary city designation.

What does it mean to be a sanctuary city?

Louis DeSipio, UC Irvine professor of political science and Chicano/Latino studies, said Santa Ana has a long history of activism and “a much more heterogeneous electorate where even the U.S. citizen voters have non-citizen family members” as compared to the rest of Orange County.

And these residents encourage local elected officials to “respect immigrant rights and use the power that they have as the city council of Santa Ana to protect immigrant rights.”

He added that a sanctuary city designation has always been “more of a symbolic thing than a substantive thing.”

But, with the Trump administration threatening to cut resources for sanctuary jurisdictions, the stakes are high.

“ There's been a sort of a tension on the [Santa Ana] City Council about how far they want to go in terms of enacting the sanctuary, the meaning of sanctuary,” he said.

How to watchdog local government

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.

Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

• Read tips on how to get involved.
• The next scheduled Santa Ana city council meeting is 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17. You can find meeting agendas here.