A coalition of elected officials in Santa Ana is demanding the withdrawal of the California National Guard from the city’s streets following two days of demonstrations against a recent wave of federal immigration crackdowns.
“To the federal administration: we demand that you take your militarized equipment and troops and stop occupying our communities immediately,” said OC Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento at a Tuesday afternoon news conference at the Old Orange County Courthouse.
Since Monday, people have rallied along the downtown streets of Santa Ana – the heart of Orange County where immigration courts and federal authorities operate – protesting the federal government’s current approach to immigration enforcement.
On Tuesday evening, at least 350 people left the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse and began marching down Bristol Street, protesting against the recent immigration crackdown that’s been happening in the city.
The protests come after numerous reports began surfacing this week about increased arrests by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agents, along with Department of Homeland Security officials and Customs and Border Patrol Agents.
Some of those arrests reportedly happened at immigration court, in front of Home Depots, at a bus stop and other public areas throughout the county.
Within hours of reports of immigration crackdowns surfacing on social media and through community groups, protestors gathered Monday near the federal building in Downtown Santa Ana – at one point trying to stop a federal bus from leaving the facility.
By nightfall, Santa Ana police declared what was left of the protests unlawful, saying that crowd members began hurling objects at authorities and damaging property.
By Tuesday morning, the National Guard was deployed to guard the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse and the federal building – which houses ICE offices and other federal agencies.
At a meeting with community organizations and activists Tuesday morning with Congressman Lou Correa, Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua said the U.S. Marines are on standby to come into the city as she warned people to peacefully protest.
[Read: Are Orange County’s Streets About to Get Militarized?]
Amezcua didn’t attend Correa’s news conference later that morning, or the one Sarmiento and a host of other elected officials were at on Tuesday afternoon.
Santa Ana Councilmembers Johnathan Hernandez, Jessie Lopez and Ben Vazquez did.
Is the Military Needed?
Hernandez and Vazquez, along with Sarmiento, were critical of the federal response in Santa Ana – a city that has routinely dealt with large protests over the years without needing military back up.
“We don’t need militarized police forces brutalizing people protesting,” Hernandez said, echoing sentiment expressed by Congressman Correa earlier that day.
“Over the past 48 hours, our city has been under siege,” Vazquez said, adding that the way federal officials have conducted immigration enforcement has heightened tensions in the Latino-majority city.
“This is not justice, this is cruelty,” he said.
Lopez said she’s been getting calls throughout the community from scared residents.
“This morning I woke up to messages from kids asking me, pleading to help find their fathers who have not come home last night,” she said.
Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Andrea Marr also criticized the military presence in Orange County.
“I’m also a military veteran and I know one thing and that is the military does not belong on the streets of California,” Marr said during Tuesday’s news conference. “I know that what is happening right now is not protecting nor defending the Constitution – it is intentionally targeting the most vulnerable in our communities.”
Anaheim, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa have had numerous visits from ICE and Department of Homeland Security officials since January – as detailed through documents obtained through public records act requests.
Sandra De Anda, network coordinator for the OC Rapid Response Network, said they’ve noticed increased immigration enforcement efforts since January.
“Since Trump’s inauguration, the Rapid Response Network has documented a rise in targeted arrests,” De Anda said during the news conference, adding that many of the raids led to “ the collateral detention of others.”
“Many of those being targeted are asylum seekers, people fleeing persecution, political violence, natrual disasers and LGBTQ discrimination. People who came here seeking safety,” De Anda said, adding that they’re “instead finding themselves with more trauma.”
Is a Military Presence Fueling Tensions?
California Governor Gavin Newsom lambasted President Donald Trump’s decision to send in the California National Guard to the region – along with readying the Marines.
“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation,” Newsom said in a Tuesday evening speech. “He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even higher.”
“We do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces. Not in LA, not in California, not anywhere,” Newsom said.
But Trump, speaking to the national press corps from the Oval Office on Tuesday, said the situation in Los Angeles got too unruly.
“Los Angeles would be burning right now,” Trump said. “If we didn’t have the military in there – the National Guard – and then we also sent in some Marines – we had some bad people … they’re animals. These are paid insurrectionists, paid agitators. They’re paid.”
“All I want is safety, I just want a safe area. Los Angeles was under siege until we got there,” Trump told reporters. “In this case, they were trying their best but they were not able to handle it.”
But Newsom said local law enforcement could have handled the situation.
“California is no stranger to this sort of unrest. We manage it regularly and with our own law enforcement,” Newsom said, adding that things were calming down at one point in Los Angeles.
“This again, was different. What then ensued was use of tear gas, flash bang grenades, rubber bullets. Federal agents detaining people and undermining their due process rights,” Newsom said. “They’re traumatizing our communities and that seems to be the entire point.”
Earlier in the day, some local elected officials expressed similar sentiments as Newsom – saying the federal response to the protests unnecessarily heightened tensions in Santa Ana.
“Yesterday, I personally witnessed the efforts of ICE officers clearly intending to escalate what was a lawful and peaceful demonstration,” OC Supervisor Sarmiento told a crowd of at least 150 people at the Tuesday news conference.
Department of Homeland Security officials have not answered questions about how their federal officers handle protests in front of their offices or how they’ve been choosing people they’ve arrested in the recent immigration crackdown.
About 20 minutes into the news conference, a Customs and Border Patrol Black Hawk helicopter began circling Downtown Santa Ana – flying right over the Orange County Courthouse.
“The protests were peaceful until militarized police forces unleashed violence on us,” said Santa Ana Unified School District board President Hector Bustos.
“Our city does not need the National Guard. We do not need militarized personnel and tanks rolling down our streets like an occupied war zone.”