Pres. Trump cancels Santa Ana’s ICE jail contract, costing the City $340K a month

There is a saying that the Santa Ana City Council should have kept in mind when they decided to antagonize President Donald Trumpmess with the bull, you get the horns. And that is exactly what just happened today as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that they will be terminating their Santa Ana jail contract in 90 days, according to a City of Santa Ana press release.

The Santa Ana City Council had announced last year their plan to terminate the ICE contract by 2020. And this year they voted to become a Sanctuary City – despite warnings that they would lose federal funding. Now that has happened and it is a total disaster.

Santa Ana’s decision in December to close one jail module results in a $663,743 annual net revenue loss and a full contract termination would create a $2 million hole annually, then-City Manager David Cavazos reported at the time. The city faces repaying about $24 million plus interest through 2024 for building the jail that it opened in 1997, according to the O.C. Register.

The Santa Ana City Jail currently receives approximately $340,000 per month in revenue from the ICE contract. The full operation of the jail includes 96 full-time and 20 part-time budgeted employees who assist in operating the jail facility.

That money is now gone – and those city employees will soon be without jobs because of our stupid City Council.

So what do the City Council members have to say for themselves?

“The City has been committed to expediting the termination of the ICE contract. Going forward, it is imperative that we make decisions that ensure sustainable City operations, including those at the existing jail facility,” noted Mayor Pro Tem Michele Martinez.

“In many ways, I’m more concerned with the financial and time hardships that will be created for local residents and their attorneys to visit family members or friends in ICE detention centers that will now be many hours away or in another state,” Councilman Jose Solorio told the Register.

The City Council shot themselves in the foot by taking on Trump and now we are all going to pay the price for it. Trust me – this is just the beginning. Pres. Trump will surely ask all of his Federal agencies to start canceling funds to our city. Santa Ana will lose millions in Federal funding thanks to our idiotic City Council.

The sad thing is that the real issue in our city is crime – and stopping the gangs. Now our city won’t have the money to do that. Our City Council decided to focus on immigration and stopping the food trucks instead of making our city safer – and we will all pay the price for their hubris.

You may email the City Council here.

Art Pedroza Editor
Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.
Art Pedroza

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

View Comments

  • But the city council gets a standing ovation for acting on their emotion rather than on rationale. I'm guessing they don't really care about our city's crime. Crime is out hand. I would give them a standing ovation if they were to hire more police force as they should instead of increasing their paycheck and worrying about things that don't matter. Let's get to work city council! !

  • this is a very biased article and i disapprove. it is clear that the OC Register is racist and favors the dention centers created to exploit immigrants and make profits. we can live without police ice, i personally, am glad this contract has ended.

    • If you can't live WITH police, how would you live without police? This isn't a good thing. Yes this country is founded on the basses of freedom and immigration, however we've changed and evolved as has much of the rest of the world. Trump and ICE aren't focusing on deporting the field workers or the law abiding (somewhat anyways) undocumented aliens, they're focusing on the CONVICTED criminals. People who made a decision to come to this country and not follow the guidelines. How is that bad? He's getting rid of gang members, rapists, killers, thieves, ect. I'm sure an \"innocent" person will get swept up from time to time, and that sucks but it's part of doing business. I'm a son of an immigrant and I'm all for deporting those who come here and commit serious crimes. But then again, I have common sense, I know I'm in the minority.

    • Question, how is this article biased? How is the OC Register racist. What have they done or said that would qualify them as racist? How can you exploit "illegal aliens," people who violated our boarder and our laws and therefore have no legal right to be in this country. When it comes to exploitation, its the citizens that are being exploited in favor of non-citizens. Citizens voted in people to represent them and their best interest, not to represent illegal aliens, who hopefully, didn't break more laws and vote. My Pastor, who is from Ireland, came here legally, got in line and spent 13 yrs following the law to become a legal citizen. He didn't spend one day in fear of being legally deported. People here illegally should live in fear of being caught and being legally deported, just as any law breaker should. As for me, I will welcome them openly when they follow our laws and on the day they take the oath of citizenship I'll say, good job and welcome to America fellow citizen. Until then, I support what the President is doing.

  • on the real, ICE has nothing to do with fighting crime , the federal government needs us to do their jobs, its federal law, let the feds enforce their own laws,,...federal government is weak ,the same office workers that sit behind a desk , once or twice a year go out and bust somebody ,and the media eats it up..the state of California voted to go against federal law on marijuana ,if the feds dont want people smoking , then they can get up off their desk put on a bullet proof vest,and arrest pot smokers, the SAPD has more important matters , believe me SAPD are the best at what they do and they dont need the feds ,the feds need us

    • Yes, of course, SAPD is doing a great job at making Santa Ana safe, especially if you're a gang member. I noticed that Newport Beach and other surrounding cities have a real gang problem too. Get a fucking clue, Santa Ana is a cesspool and the City Council, that is primarily comprised of mental midgets that either came to this country illegally themselves or were brought here by their illegal parents are simply invoking their racist believe that CA belongs to mexico and by the looks of it, they're doing a great job. ICE needs to sweep SA daily until all these putos have been deported. They can send all the pot smoking losers over the border too, they fit the same mental profile and contribute less than the wetbacks.

Recent Posts

Tilly’s Life Center raised over $500K to support youth programs, at their annual O.C. gala

Tilly’s Life Center’s (TLC) recently raised over half a million dollars to support their youth…

6 hours ago

A small plan crashed near the Fullerton Airport this afternoon

On November 25, 2024, at approximately 1:46 PM, Fullerton Fire and Police personnel responded to…

6 hours ago

Firefighters had to extricate victims from two car crashes in Garden Grove last Friday

OCFA fire crews responded to two significant vehicle accidents in Garden Grove last Friday, requiring…

11 hours ago

An SUV was totally wrecked after hitting two light poles and a tree in Newport Beach

On November 24th, 2024, at approximately 1:00 a.m. Newport Beach Fire Department units NE63, NT63,…

14 hours ago

The SAPD arrested a man suspected in an armed robbery at a gas station

‼️UPDATE‼️ Earlier today, our robbery detectives arrested November 20, 2024, #WantedWednesday suspect Izaya Cuellar (35)…

1 day ago

Driver arrested for destroying the lawn of a Costa Mesa park while doing donuts with his vehicle

Late Friday night, police officers responded to Balearic Park regarding a vehicle doing “donuts” on…

1 day ago

This website uses cookies.