Orange County Braces For ICE

As protests mount in downtown Santa Ana, local lawmakers and activists are asking concerned residents to remain active but peaceful in their demonstrations. 

Federal immigration enforcement in Orange County seemingly increased on Monday as activists and local lawmakers noted a marked increase of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arresting people in public. 

After increased ICE activity and protests in nearby Los Angeles over the weekend, numerous social media posts began circulating Monday morning allegedly showing people being arrested by ICE agents at Home Depots in Santa Ana.

Sandra De Anda, coordinator for the OC Rapid Response Network, said she and her colleagues received reports of federal immigration enforcement actions in Santa Ana and Fountain Valley. 

She said one person called the Rapid Response Network from the Home Depot on MacArthur Boulevard and Harbor Boulevard and “reported seeing approximately 12 to 15 people arrested on that site,” 

DeAnda criticized federal officials’ approach. .

“They are violating due process, they are dehumanizing our community members as well and ultimately they are separating our families,” De Anda said in a Monday voicemail. 

Department of Homeland Security officials did not respond to questions on Monday.

By Monday afternoon, a roughly 200-person protest in Santa Ana had formed near Orange County Superior Court, near the federal building that houses ICE offices and other federal department offices.

Organizers scheduled another protest for 5:30 p.m. at Sasscer Park near the federal building in Downtown Santa Ana.

Congressman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) – who just arrived back in Washington, D.C. from weekend protests in Los Angeles – said he was packing clothes to get on the plane to return to Orange County given the situation on the ground. 

“My phone is exploding,” Correa said in a Monday phone interview, 

He said the situation on the ground in Southern California is reminding him of forced repatriations from the 1930s, something that “is personal because it happened to my grandfather.”

The congressman pleaded for residents to stay peaceful in their protests. 

“We have to make sure we don’t give them a reason,” Correa said  “You don’t fight violence with violence,” saying activists should follow the non-violent protest approach of India’s Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Some of the protestors in Santa Ana on Monday afternoon tried blocking a van from leaving the federal building, triggering pepper spray from law enforcement officials.

In a Monday evening statement, city officials said while they recognize First Amendment rights to protest and the “deeply held beliefs” many residents have for the issue, officials said “the situation has escalated, and what began as a lawful assembly around the Civic Center Plaza, has escalated into objects being thrown towards officers and other members of the public posing a risk to public safety, property, and the well-being of our community.”

“In response, federal agents have deployed less-lethal ammunition, including tear gas, pepper balls, and rubber bullets,” read the statement. 

Officials also said U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli requested police assistance “because federal agents were being overrun at the federal building.” 

Yet Santa Ana City Councilwoman Jessie Lopez, who was at the protest on Monday, refuted that point in a response to the city’s Instagram page.

“Overrun? That’s a lie,” Lopez said on the post. 

In a phone interview at roughly 9:30 p.m. Monday, Lopez said she felt compelled to make that social media response because she didn’t think the city’s statement was entirely accurate. 

“I do have an issue with the framing that federal agents were being overrun at the federal building,” Lopez said, adding that federal officers “were the people with guns, covered from head to toe in protective gear.” 

“At no point did they not have control of the situation,” she said, noting she left at 6 p.m. when most of the crowd began heading towards Sasscer Park. 

“This stuff is dangerous,’ Correa said. “This administration is looking for a reason to come down on people with a. hammer. We cannot give them that reason.”

What Correa and others echoed was that the courts are where people can seek justice.

“It’s working,” he said about lawsuits challenging deportation efforts, “we gotta give it more time.”

Orange County Supervisor and former Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento echoed similar hope and concerns. 

“This is painfully wrong,” said Sarmineto, who noted his day began by talking to a young woman at the Home Depot just off Edinger Avenue, whose uncle was swept up for “just looking for work.”

Then, Sarmiento drove to the federal building in Santa Ana to speak to protesters at the site. 

“Exercise your First Amendment rights,” Sarmiento said.

With a strong warning. 

“Don’t’ take the bait, don’t get provoked into violating any laws,” is the message Sarmiento said he gave to the protestors, many of whom are young people deeply disenchanted by the federal government actions they see unfairly targeting neighborhoods, family and friends. 

Sarmiento lambasted the current immigration enforcement approach. 

“This playbook is straight from authoritarian 101,” Sarmiento said. “Come in, provoke people who are trying to protect peacefully and then bring in a militarized response.”

Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua released a statement on social media late Monday afternoon, calling for protests to remain peaceful.

“I do not support any unlawful behavior, but I will always put our community first,” Amezcua said. 

Amezcua also echoed other local officials.

“If you choose to exercise your First Amendment rights and protest, please do so peacefully and safely,” she said. 

When asked for comment Monday, Orange County Republican Party Chairman Will O’Neill took a shot at Los Angeles’ handling of the protests. 

“I may not agree with Mayor Valerie Amezcua often, but I don’t expect that she would gaslight her city or let it burn like LA Mayor Karen Bass,” said O’Neill in a Monday text message.

“And I trust our OC Sheriff Don Barnes to keep law and order while respecting the First Amendment.  After what we saw in Los Angeles this weekend, including CHP officers hiding under an overpass while people try to grievously injure officers with projectiles, we should be thankful that this is still Orange County and not Los Angeles,” said O’Neill, a former Newport Beach Mayor.    

Meanwhile, Supervisor Sarmiento said he was focused on getting affected residents legal back up. 

He noted that county supervisors at their last meeting created a $500,000 legal defense fund for immigrants – mirroring a similar action years ago in Santa Ana – that is being matched by local foundations for a total of $1.5 million. 

“This is a marathon, it’s not a sprint,” Sarmiento said. 

Santa Ana City Councilwoman Lopez was also at the protest and said they heard immigrants arrested by federal officials in Los Angeles were transported to Santa Ana. 

“I’m really enraged and my heart breaks,” Lopez told Voice of OC at the Monday protest. “They are disrupting our lives. They are preventing people from earning a living, they are destabilizing families and this is not what we want.” 

“We are going to resist,” Lopez added. “I do know that some of the people that were arrested in LA this weekend were brought to Santa Ana because of the Marshall’s contracts.” 

A host of Santa Ana city and school board officials along with Supervisor Sarmiento are slated to hold a press conference at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the Old County Courthouse in downtown Santa Ana to condemn the current raids and call for due process. 

It comes as Santa Ana City Council members consider publicly disclosing courtesy calls from federal officials – a log of visits throughout the city by officials from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. 

[Read: OC Leaders Face Off Against Whether to Tell Residents How Often ICE is in Town]

Santa Ana Faces Legal Threat From U.S. Attorney 

On Friday, U.S. Attorney Essayli sent a letter to Santa Ana warning them against disclosing immigration enforcement actions in the city. 

“Broadcasting information about ICE operations gives offenders the opportunity to destroy evidence, arm themselves, and retaliate against officers and the public. Frustrating the enforcement of federal immigration laws is a dangerous and short-sighted tradeoff,” reads Essayli’s letter. 

“A policy requiring public notice about ICE operations in the City of Santa Ana would potentially alert criminals to a wide variety of ICE’s and my office’s efforts to deter serious crimes and catch and prosecute those who commit serious crimes,” Essayli wrote, adding that not all of ICE’s operations are immigration related, like investigations into child sex predators. 

Essayli also hinted at a lawsuit if city officials roll out the proposed policy of notifying residents about federal activity in the city within 48 hours. 

“That potential obstruction brings up another serious concern that was discussed at the city council meeting by both the Mayor and Chief of Police, which is that the proposed measure could violate federal law, specifically, 18 U.S.C. § 1505, among other federal statutes,” he wrote.

On Monday, Lopez said Essayli is trying to intimidate council members. 

“They’re trying to bully local governments,” Lopez said. 

Santa Ana City Councilman Jonathan Hernandez, who pushed for the proposed ICE notification policy, said recent actions have motivated him to ask city officials to bring back that policy much quicker than originally expected. 

“I contacted the city manager’s office yesterday,” Hernandez said, adding that officials are expected to have a policy ready for review by July, adding “this is a top priority for our community.”

He disputed the DOJ take saying city officials are within their rights to share public records, adding “Santa Ana is a city that is compliant with state and federal law.”

“People’s rights are being violated and we are seeing a government that is looking to come to vulnerable communities and cause harm and terrorise them,” he said. 

Carlos Perea, one of Orange County’s most prominent immigration activists, echoed Correa’s sentiments about staying active but peaceful. 

“I’m angry,” Perea said. “California is under siege by the federal government … We knew this attack would be coming. We didn’t think they would come so fast.”

Will Immigration Enforcement Expand Elsewhere in OC?

Just a few miles up the 5 freeway in Anaheim, Marisol Ramirez – executive director for Orange County Communities for Responsible Development – said she’s been getting reports from local residents of federal immigration officials showing up in town, but hasn’t heard of arrests like Santa Ana saw Monday. 

“I have been hearing that they’ve been spotted in Anaheim yesterday off of the 91 on Harbor. I have heard of people keeping an eye on Home Depots in Anaheim, especially the one on Brookhurst,” Ramirez said in a Monday phone interview.  

Day laborers routinely shop out their services at the Home Depot on Brookhurst Street by the 5 freeway. 

In the meantime, Ramirez said OCCORD has been telling undocumented people to stay home and have relatives who are citizens to do essential chores like grocery shopping or getting gas. 

“This administration is doing it in a way that it creates a traumatic impact on families – the feeling of helplessness of not being able to provide immediate support, it’s really inhumane,” she said. 

Ramirez said federal agents are largely targeting Latinos.

“It’s essentially anyone that looks brown – they’re going for that,” Ramirez said. “It’s frustrating  because there’s really no process for people to keep track of who they are taking so families can locate their loved ones.”

Perea echoed similar sentiments on Monday, calling federal actions “racial profiling.”  

“The reality is many of us are undocumented,” said Perea, who noted he himself has to attend an immigration check-in tomorrow on his own status adjustment following his recent marriage. 

“I hope I leave with good news,” Perea said. “It’s a reality that in Santa Ana we have skin in the game.” 

Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.

Norberto Santana Jr. is Voice of OC’s publisher and editor in chief. You can reach him at nsantana@voiceofoc.org. 

Julie Leopo is Voice of OC’s director of photography. You can reach her at jleopo@voiceofoc.org.