A host of residents, activists and elected officials throughout Orange County are increasingly calling for the unmasking of federal immigration agents since sweeping deportation efforts began last month.
Federal and state legislators are considering new laws to ban federal immigration officers from wearing masks during the sweeps and require them to wear visible IDs and badges.
[Read: Santana: Unmasking ICE]
Now, officials in Orange could demand ICE agents and other immigration enforcement officers to identify themselves and not wear masks when conducting sweeps in the city.
It comes as fears persist over an uptick in widespread immigration raids often conducted by masked federal agents who don’t always identify themselves and amid a rise in reports of people impersonating ICE agents and committing crimes like sexual assault.
On Tuesday, Orange City Council members are expected to consider a resolution calling for federal law enforcement operating in Orange to wear ID and show their face.
Councilmembers Ariana Barrios and Ana Gutierrez are spearheading the proposal.
Barrios said that the resolution is aimed at keeping residents safe – especially women – amid an uptick of imposters pretending to be immigration enforcement agents.
“That’s a legitimate problem with how things are being undertaken at the moment. Whether or not we can enforce ICE to do this – I’ll be honest, I’m not 100% sure,” Barrios said in a Monday morning phone interview.
“But we can work together with our own police department to make sure that our residents know that they can call on our (police department) to come and verify someone’s identity before they interact with somebody that they’re not sure what their identity really is.”
Gutierrez did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Since the sweeping deportation efforts began early last month, federal officials have said the masks help protect the safety of immigration officers – noting an increase in assaults against the officers.
If approved, the resolution will be the first action city officials take since immigration sweeps first ramped up in Orange County over a month ago after a majority of elected officials dismissed a request from Barrios and Gutierrez for an online immigration resource page in June.
[Read: Division Over ICE Raids Flares up in Orange]
Barrios said an online resource page is the bare minimum they could do for immigrants impacted by the raids in Orange.
At the June 24 meeting, Gutierrez highlighted how the ICE raids have impacted her community and said she witnessed a detention right outside her home.
She also reacted to the arrest of Narciso Barranco – a 48-year-old landscaper who made national news after federal immigration agents punched him in the head while he was face down in the middle of a Santa Ana street – calling it inhumane
Gutierrez’s remarks drew sharp criticism from City Councilman Jon Dumitru, who pushed back on creating an immigration resource page on the city website and supported using fire hoses on anti-ICE protestors if they broke the law.
“Well, all I’ll say about that is it was really disappointing,” Barrios said about Dumitru’s remarks at the June 24 meeting.
He did not respond to a request for comment Monday morning.
Dumitru said in an email last month ICE officers need to be clearly identifiable.
“I also strongly believe that ICE officers need to be clearly identifiable—either in uniform or clearly marked clothing. That is a basic expectation in a society governed by transparency and accountability. Confusion about who is enforcing the law creates unnecessary tension and risk for everyone involved,” Dumitru wrote.
The resolution in Orange comes as officials in Garden Grove and Costa Mesa are facing community pressure to respond to the ICE sweeps with residents there calling for aid funds for immigrants, ICE notification policies and resources.
Santa Ana City Councilwoman Jessie Lopez also called on her colleagues at the July 1 city council meeting to consider a similar ordinance in Orange County’s only sanctuary city.
At the same meeting, officials launched a $100,000 aid fund to help immigrants impacted by the raid and requested information from ICE about who’s getting caught up in raids and where people are being sent.
They also adopted a resolution calling on the OC Congressional delegation to push for the removal of ICE and the National Guard from Santa Ana.
The resolution called on members of congress to insist that ICE agents properly identify themselves when making an arrest.
Last week, officials there became the first in OC to join a federal lawsuit challenging the ICE raids across Southern California after a federal judge temporarily blocked the Department of Homeland Security from sweeping deportation efforts based on race in Southern California.
[Read: Santa Ana Becomes First OC City to Join Federal Lawsuit Against ICE Raids]
Barrios said she wouldn’t be surprised if she and Gutierrez call on their colleagues to join in on the lawsuit.
Barrios also said that she has had a lot of conversations with people who don’t see the recent ICE raids as racial profiling and that immigration enforcement agents have focused on the El Modena neighborhood, which Gutierrez represents.
“They are going after Latinos, they’re hanging out where Latinos hang out, and they are terrorizing our neighborhoods,” Barrios said.
“What are people supposed to think when you see things like that happening and they’re everywhere in your neighborhood? All it says to you is that, wow, being brown on the street right now is basically going to cause you problems.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.