Santa Ana City Council members want to know the impacts – like losing federal funding – and potential legal liability of publicly disclosing federal immigration activity within the city.
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It comes after revelations that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials and the Department of Homeland Security have visited various parts of the city since January, spurring resident concerns that top city administrators haven’t been up front about the issue.
[Read: Will Santa Ana Alert Residents of ICE Activity Amid Federal Immigration Crackdown?]
Last Tuesday, city council members directed the city attorney and police chief to come back with answers on what are the risks, liabilities and impacts of disclosing ICE and Department of Homeland Security courtesy calls to residents two days after the fact.
From January 22 to April 26, the city has received 42 notifications from federal officials.
The direction comes after Councilmembers Johnathan Hernandez and Benjamin Vazquez requested a policy disclosing and detailing those notifications to elected officials, the city’s police oversight commission and residents, as well as posting them online.
“It is important that we know that the city will be in compliance with both state and federal law, and that there is no statutory law prohibiting a city from notifying residents of ice whereabouts, nor is there a statutory law that allows for the President to withdraw federal funding,” said Hernandez, who is running for State Assembly, at Tuesday’s meeting.
Before the discussion, City Attorney Sonia Carvalho warned officials not to get into a full blown debate on the issue, but to just give direction to staff about the policy.
Mayor Valerie Amezcua echoed her remarks, pointing to an emailed memo Carvalho had sent to council members prior to the meeting.
City Spokesman Paul Eakins did not respond to a request for the memo on May 20.
Vazquez said the proposed policy is about transparency and trust.
“People should be empowered with information necessary to make informed decisions for themselves and for their families. It will make Santa Ana safe when we have trust in our government and our police department,” Vazquez said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Police Chief Robert Rodriguez said that there needs to be a balance between protecting law enforcement officers and disclosing information, adding that if he impedes or interferes with state or federal law, he could land in legal trouble.
“I will not break the law to enforce the law,” he said at the May 20 meeting.
“We’ll reiterate we will not be involved in immigration enforcement. But at the same time, we have to ensure that we don’t compromise public safety, community safety, and ensure that we’re in compliance with both state and federal law,” Rodriguez said.
The police chief said law enforcement agencies routinely give each other courtesy calls to keep the two departments from clashing with each other amid an ongoing investigation and don’t always provide details of their activity.
Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan – an immigrant herself – and Amezcua questioned what were the risks and the impacts of making such disclosures to the public as President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to pull funding from sanctuary cities.
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