Latest news with #JohnathanHernandez
CBS News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Santa Ana keeps 4th of July event, creates fund for families impacted by immigration enforcement
The Santa Ana City Council voted Tuesday night to keep all of its planned community events on the calendar, but to cut funding to each event by 10% to create an Emergency Assistance Program for families impacted by federal immigration enforcement. Mayor Valerie Amezcua originally proposed cancelling eight major community events for the 2025-26 fiscal year to allocate the $1 million budgeted for the events to Santa Ana families affected by recent ICE raids. This would have included cancelling the Fourth of July event, which carries a $115,000 cost. "We are currently in a crisis," Amezcua said. "This is about the needs of our community. If the father or mother, the breadwinner, is taken from their home, we do not want them to lose their residence." She said funding is needed to help with rent, utilities, groceries, and legal expenses. The method of distribution was not established at Tuesday's meeting, but the mayor offered assurances that the city's previous COVID assistance program would serve as a template. All council members present at the meeting supported creating a fund for affected families, but most did not support cancelling the community events. "I'm not going to be supportive of defunding events in the brownest city in Orange County and making the public choose between celebrating our culture or giving mutual aid; we should be doing both," Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez said. He noted that since the June 9 ICE raid in the city, celebratory events such as Juneteenth have taken place, with no reports of federal enforcement taking place. Councilmember Thai Viet Phan held strong opinions about not canceling the Fourth of July and proposed cutting all programming by 10% and use that money for an assistance fund. "As an immigrant, as someone who swore to become an American, I refuse to allow these ICE agents, these border patrol agents, and these federal agents from taking the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence from me," she said. "The Fourth of July does not belong to them, it belongs to all of us who live in this country and celebrate American Independence, and what it means to be American." The seven-member council voted unanimously to allocate 10% of the $1 million budgeted for city events to establish a fund to support community members affected by federal immigration operations, with a plan to reevaluate the initiative in 90 days. The City of Santa Ana's adopted FY25-26 budgeted community events include: Fourth of July Chicano Heritage Fiestas Patrias Noche De Altares Tet Festival Santa Ana Fun Run Movie Series Juneteenth
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Santa Ana City Council votes to move forward with further look at ICE operation alert system
Santa Ana City Council votes to move forward with further look at ICE alert system Santa Ana City Council votes to move forward with further look at ICE alert system Santa Ana City Council votes to move forward with further look at ICE alert system Santa Ana City Council members on Tuesday voted to move forward with a program that would create an alert system to notify residents before federal immigration sweeps. After an hours-long meeting, which included a lengthy public comment section, members will now learn more about the system and any possible implications that may stem from it. Santa Ana is Orange County's only sanctuary city, meaning that they will not offer resources to federal immigration efforts, which is why council members Johnathan Hernandez and Benjamin Vazquez proposed directing the city's police department to notify residents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, activity happening in the city within 48 hours of their receipt of federal notification. "Our police department received 42 notifications of ICE contacts in our community," Hernandez said. "Those communications come well in advance. This is an opportunity for us to build trust with our community." They proposed that notifications be posted on social media and the city's website, similar to how they alert residents about other incidents. The exact details that they would be sharing, however, remain unclear. "The city has to be transparent. We have to make sure we give all the information that we do have so people feel safe knowing that they can work with us," said Vazquez. Their proposal comes after immigration activists say that there were raids earlier in the year. They allege that city leaders knew of the raids, but didn't disclose them to the public. "The reason why we're all here today is because of the lack of leadership in this city," said Ray Diaz, an advocate with the Francisco Torres Center for Racial Justice. Congressman Lou Correa, who represents the area, says that he supports notifications, but that he's worried about the potential repercussions. "The last thing you wanna do is have the city of Santa Ana get caught up in some legal wrangling and that President Trump or Homeland Security come in and say we're yanking your federal dollars because you're in violation," he said while speaking with CBS News Los Angeles. Santa Ana Police Department officials say that while the department does not cooperate with ICE, they're not allowed to use resources to impede with federal law enforcement activity. The council will have to vote on the ordinance twice before it becomes official.
