Residents facing deportation in two Orange County cities could soon benefit from hundreds of thousands of dollars in immigration legal defense services.
It comes months into a federal deportation dragnet that has upended the lives of immigrant families across the region.
Dozens of undocumented residents in Santa Ana could receive a quarter of million dollars in immigration legal defense services between now and August of next year under a recently approved contract.
Last week, city council members in OC’s only sanctuary city voted unanimously without discussion to approve a $250,000 contract with Immigrant Defenders Law Center again for immigration related legal services for residents.
The approved contract can be extended annually twice for an additional $250,000 a year.
At the meeting, a couple of activists called on city officials to approve the contract.
Sandra De Anda, director of Policy and Legal Strategy at the OC Rapid Response Network, described how immigration detentions have impacted Santa Ana since February before widespread sweeps ramped up in June.
“Whether this city chooses to acknowledge it or not, Santa Ana is the deportation capital of Orange County,” she told city officials at Tuesday’s meeting.
“Today’s reinvestment in our local defense program reaffirms the city’s values and strengthens the resistance of working class immigrants and refugees, not just here but across Orange County, who continue to endure and continue to fight back every single day.”
Faby Jacome, executive director of the Orange County Justice Fund, said legal representation is often the only thing standing in the way of a family being separated and called for the city to improve outreach on the program.
“We are seeing Border Patrol violently apprehending people at local grocery stores, Home Depots and car washes. This reality makes clear just how critical this program is, and we commend the city for prioritizing this investment,” Jacome said on Zoom at the meeting.
“Outreach is especially critical for communities like Southeast Asian refugees who face unique challenges and disproportionate targeting for deportation.”
Soon some immigrant families in neighboring Costa Mesa could benefit from the same type of support as local leaders are contemplating launching their own immigration defense fund amid pressure from residents and activists to take a stand on the deportation sweeps.
[Read: Costa Mesa Donates $100K for Immigration Aid; Explores Joining Lawsuit Against ICE Sweeps]
Santa Ana’s Immigration Legal Defense Fund
Santa Ana officials first started contracting with Immigrant Defenders Law Center in 2017 when they launched the fund and entered into three different contracts with the legal group since then – with the recent contract expiring at the end of January.
According to the city website, city officials opened a search at the end of 2024 looking again for a law firm to defend Santa Ana residents from deportation under a $300,000 a year contract as part of the city’s deportation defense fund that started in 2017.
Immigrant Defenders were the only group to bid to provide the city’s immigration legal defense services again, according to a staff report.
Under the new contract, the law center must service 12 new clients annually while maintaining any active Santa Ana cases initiated under the previous contract with a maximum cap of 70 active cases.
To view the new contract, click here.
It comes after some activists raised concerns earlier this year that Immigrant Defenders was allegedly not taking on complex deportation cases and not serving the Vietnamese and Asian community.
[Read: Santa Ana Looks to Boost Immigrant Protections Amid Federal Crackdown]
The law center did not respond to emailed questions Wednesday.
Immigrant Defenders is also one of the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of five people arrested in Los Angeles County and immigrant rights organizations alleging federal immigration officers are racially profiling people to make warrantless arrests.
Santa Ana, Anaheim, Irvine and Fullerton either voted to join the lawsuit against the ICE raids or are looking at supporting the legal efforts to end the raids
Costa Mesa City Council members are expected to consider signing onto the legal challenge spearheaded by the ACLU at their next meeting.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.