Federal immigration officials are expected to conduct operations in Irvine today as Orange County continues to see increasing fears, concerns and protests surrounding ongoing federal raids this week.
“Earlier this morning, the City of Irvine was notified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they would be conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations at several locations throughout the City. It has been confirmed that these activities are focused on locating specific individuals under investigation for criminal activity who also have immigration law-related violations,” reads a Thursday afternoon city news release.
The Irvine Police Department was notified this morning via a phone call that ICE was operating in town and told the public Thursday afternoon, emphasizing that the raids were just looking for specific individuals.
“ICE’s current operations in Irvine are not broad immigration raids, and do not appear directed at detaining individuals solely based on their immigration status,” city staff wrote in an online statement. “The Irvine Police Department is not involved in any federal immigration enforcement.”
In a Friday text message, Irvine City Manager Oliver Chi said officials don’t have any more information about ICE activity in the city.
The city notification stands in stark contrast to how Santa Ana officials have handled informing the public of immigration courtesy notices about local enforcement actions – something city council members are currently debating.
In a letter last week, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned of potential legal action against Santa Ana if officials roll out a notification policy.
[Read: Orange County Braces For ICE]
Mayor Larry Agran put out a Thursday statement pointing residents to local nonprofits who could help them with their immigration status, and acknowledged the impact the raids have on people’s trust in government.
“Recent reports of immigration enforcement activities have raised serious concerns and fear among our residents,” Agran wrote. “We are aware that these federal actions, including ICE raids, have disrupted families, sown distrust in local government, and undermined the sense of safety that every person deserves.”
Councilwoman Kathleen Treseder, who announced the raids online before the city did, said people are scared.
“The immigrant community is terrified. They’re terrified. I’m a UCI professor and a lot of our students are immigrants or who have parents who are immigrants,” Treseder said in a Thursday phone interview. “They’re worried about their parents getting taken without them knowing, they’re worried about agents coming and taking them from classes.”
How Are Immigration Sweeps Happening?
It comes as Sandra De Anda, network coordinator for the OC Rapid Response Network, said she and her team had only seen one administrative warrant from ICE and other federal officials this week as she questions just how ICE is targeting people in the recent sweeps.
“What they’ve been able to produce is an administrative warrant which has no power in terms of going into someone’s home or vehicle,” De Anda said in a Thursday phone interview. “Over the last 8 years, I can tell you I’ve never seen a judicial warrant.”
The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to repeated questions about how they’re conducting immigration sweeps and whether or not they have warrants.
De Anda estimates at least 50 people have been detained or arrested by federal officials in the immigration sweeps happening throughout Orange County this week.
She and the network – which monitors federal immigration activity and provides resources to immigrants – have been fielding reports of ICE raids all over the county this week; federal agents arresting and detaining people at Home Depots, car washes, immigration court and immigration check-in offices.
There’s also been recent reports that federal immigration officials were spotted in Anaheim’s Pearson Park near city hall.
“We have seen videos appearing to show federal agents at Pearson Park on Thursday. We have been onsite and conferred with Anaheim Police. We don’t have any additional details but are aware of the videos,” Anaheim officials said in a Thursday social media statement.
“Events throughout our region are a reminder that federal agencies can come into any city, and immigration enforcement is taking place,” reads the statement, adding that Anaheim police and other city officials are not helping federal agencies in immigration sweeps.
Meanwhile, Irvine Councilwoman Betty Martinez Franco said they’re hoping to avoid any similar broad raids in Irvine.
“We are monitoring the situation constantly…we’re hoping to provide those details,” Martinez-Franco said. “We’re hopeful this doesn’t escalate to what happened in other sister cities.”
They’re the latest in a series of Orange County cities to face questions on how they’ll respond to raids by federal immigration enforcement after years with nearly no cooperation.
[Read: Deportation Fears Persist in Orange County as ICE Protests Continue]
Right now, the National Guard is guarding the federal courthouse in Santa Ana after days of protests over the tactics used by federal immigration enforcement.
The military’s presence is raising concerns from a growing contingent of elected officials, who are demanding the National Guard withdraw from the area.
[Read: Calls Grow for Military to Stop ‘Occupying’ Orange County]
A Changing ICE Approach
Over the past few years, one of the main ways people have gotten picked up by ICE in Orange County came when the sheriff’s department notified them about immigrants without documentation being released from the county jails.
[Read: How Many People Are Turned Over to Immigration by OC Sheriff Deputies?]
At a Tuesday news conference, Congressman Lou Correa said federal officials have turned their attention to just about all immigrants – not just convicted criminals.
“All that we want is to tell ICE use restraint. Don’t come and make fear in our communities. We’re a peaceful community – Orange County is peaceful.”
“If you got criminals you gotta go after, so be it,” Correa said, adding that he’s seen some of the people recently detained.
“From what I saw, I don’t believe those are serious violent criminals,” he said. “I saw a couple individuals that looked like they got pulled off a job painting somewhere.”
“Why did you pick up working individuals? They’re not violent serious criminals to my knowledge.”