City of Santa Ana
On Tuesday, May 16, 2017, the Santa Ana City Council took the first step toward establishing a legal services program for Santa Ana residents facing deportation. By a vote of 4-2 (only Council Members Juan Villegas and Jose Solorio voted No), the City Council directed staff to further pursue all five options presented in a staff report to assist detained immigrants in deportation proceedings who cannot afford an attorney.
The five options included: Continue reading
As time ticks away on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s contract at Santa Ana Jail, a city councilman tried Tuesday to restart talks for a new agreement with the federal agency – and fell short again, according to the O.C. Register.
City Councilmen David Benavides, Sal Tinajero and Vincent Sarmiento all voted once again to oppose Councilman Jose Solorio’s agenda item to direct city staff to negotiate and execute a contract with ICE and Mayor Pro Tem Michele Martinez did not show up to the meeting because her brother passed away. Continue reading
Oscar Roberto Urbina
I took a call this week from a young lady who had quite a story to tell. Apparently she was dating a musician named Oscar Roberto Urbina, a 46-year old man who performs in a band called Libertad Chicana. The relationship went sideways and Urbina started to pester her at work. The young lady eventually got a temporary restraining order. Then Urbina showed up at her work, a market in Santa Ana, and he allegedly assaulted her.
Urbina was charged with “Disobeying domestic relations court order” on Feb. 1, and a jury trial has been set for April 7, according to OC Court Case Number 17CM01158. The victim says Urbina is fairly broke but someone paid his $15K bail to get him back on the streets. Continue reading
There is a saying that the Santa Ana City Council should have kept in mind when they decided to antagonize President Donald Trump – mess 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. Continue reading
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order today that will cut some federal money to so-called “sanctuary cities” without defining which funding will be cut or what communities the administration will define as sanctuaries, according to the O.C. Register.
Santa Ana gets about $123 million in federal funds every year – although I heard a report on a radio news station today that the funding is closer to $30 million a year. Santa Ana Councilman Sal Tinajero told that news station that the City of Santa Ana can afford to lose that $30 million a year as we have a rainy day fund with $40 million in it. His comments were also reported by Fox News. Continue reading
The Santa Ana City Council voted unanimously at their meeting last night to adopt an ordinance declaring itself a sanctuary for all residents regardless of immigration status, according to the O.C. Register.
The ordinance means that the similar resolution passed by the City Council at their last meeting is now going to be a city law. And this time everyone on the Council showed up and voted for the new ordinance including new City Council members Juan Villegas and Jose Solorio, as well as Mayor Miguel Pulido. Continue reading
The City of Santa Ana recently announced that they have partnered with North Star Destination Strategies to develop a community “Brand” for marketing the area to residents, businesses and visitors in the year 2017 and beyond. However that branding effort might have already been settled when the Santa Ana City Council decided this week to support a resolution declaring Santa Ana to be a Sanctuary City.
City employees in these sanctuary areas are directed not to contact the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency when they become aware of an illegal alien in the community, according to the Sanctuary Cities website. Continue reading
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Santa Ana’s City Council members voted 5-0 Tuesday in favor of adopting a Sanctuary City resolution that requires the city to strengthen various policies that already exist to further protect undocumented residents, according to the O.C. Register.
Santa Ana’s Sanctuary City resolution is rather toothless. The City Council could have made this an ordinance as the resolution is not a law. It is more of a P.R. move. Continue reading
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The Santa Ana City Council will be considering a resolution at their meeting tonight to declare Santa Ana to be a Sanctuary City.
If passed, the resolution would require the city prohibit using city resources for immigration enforcement; reaffirm its commitment to preventing biased-based policing; exercise maximum discretion in policing; protect sensitive information; provide training for affected employees, officials and agents; and explore the feasibility of establishing a task force for oversight, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading
A new Facebook group has formed in support of making Santa Ana a Sanctuary City. The group’s page states that “In Santa Ana we have the numbers to make Santa Ana a Sanctuary city but we act like a minority . We must fight back!”
An effort to do this died in 2008, after Council Member Michele Martinez’ motion was defeated by Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and the rest of the Santa Ana City Council. Ironically, she is now part of Pulido’s team and is in a good position to reintroduce this idea to the rest of the Council.
Recently Pulido and his Council passed a motion voicing their displeasure with the racial profiling bill in Arizona, SB 1070. Will they now revisit the idea of making Santa Ana a Sanctuary City?
We have an all-Latino City Council in Santa Ana, but the police keep cracking down on our people. They did so brutally this week on Cinco de Mayo and are conducting another DUI checkpoint tonight. The purpose? To take cars away from immigrants and raise money for our bankrupt city by charging ridiculous impound fees. Continue reading