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Los Angeles Times
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
‘We are in a crisis': Santa Ana creates emergency fund for families harmed by ICE raids
As immigration raids continue to sweep through Santa Ana's car washes and Home Depot parking lots, spreading fear across the 77% Latino community, the city has created a $100,000 fund to help affected families cover basic necessities such as food, rent and utilities. The emergency fund was proposed by Mayor Valerie Amezcua, who said that the city is in a crisis because of ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. Santa Ana's sister city of Sahuayo in Michoacán, Mexico, has offered an additional $50,000 gift to assist with the initiative, she said. 'This is about the needs of our community,' Amezcua said at Tuesday's City Council meeting. 'If the father or mother who is the breadwinner is taken from their home, we do not want them to lose their residence.' The proposal marked a sharp shift for the mayor, who has faced calls to resign over her silence at the outset of President Trump's immigration crackdown in Southern California in early June. During last week's City Council meeting, more than a hundred frustrated residents flooded the public comment period, with many lambasting Amezcua for her response to immigration raids and related protests and criticizing the Santa Ana Police Department's use of force on demonstrators. Amezcua initially proposed creating a $1-million aid program by canceling eight city-sponsored events: Fourth of July, Chicano Heritage Festival, Fiestas Patrias, Noche de Altares, Tet Festival, Santa Ana Fun Run, Summer Movie Series and Juneteenth. 'We've seen in other cities where they have large events and ICE shows up. The troops are going through the parks and taking our families,' she said. 'I do not want to have any large events where they can come and harm or take our families.' But several council members opposed the idea, saying that it is important to continue celebrating the community's culture and noting that many of these events are months away, when ICE may not be as active. 'I'm not going to be supportive of defunding cultural events in the brownest city in Orange County and making the public choose between celebrating our culture or giving mutual aid,' said Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez. 'We should be doing both.' Hernandez pointed out that Santa Ana is the only city in the country to have a Chicano Heritage Festival celebrating the contributions of trailblazing journalist Ruben Salazar and the only city in Southern California to host a Fiestas Patrias celebrating Mexican independence. 'I don't think it is the right thing to defund these events.' The council then embarked on a heated hourlong debate over where to pull money to create the fund. Hernandez suggested using money allocated for vacant positions in the Santa Ana Police Department. Amezcua, however, pushed back, calling his proposal reckless. Then, Councilmember David Penaloza proposed taking the $1 million from the city's rainy day fund, but city staff explained that the process for pulling from the reserves would require additional meetings and votes. Ultimately, the council settled on a compromise solution, pulling 10% of funding from city-sponsored events to get a $100,000 emergency fund running immediately. Councilmember Thai Viet Phan, who came up with the motion, added that staff should report back in 90 days or sooner on the efficacy of the fund and suggestions to increase its budget. During the public comment period, many residents spoke about the pain and trauma ICE raids were continuing to inflict on Santa Ana's community. 'We have operations happening at our local car washes, at our local Home Depots, our vendors are being taken. A lot is happening all the time and our team has never seen this sort of pain and suffering from our Santa Ana residents,' said Sandra De Anda, a staff member at the Orange County Rapid Response Network, which helps track immigration raids and connect affected families with resources. De Anda said she conservatively estimates that 20 to 30 people are being detained a day. 'I can confidently tell you that because I work with a very committed team of ICE watchers, dispatchers, attorneys, clergy members, and most of us are volunteers,' she said. Maria Ceja, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, wrote a letter in support of the fund, asking that the city craft a dignified and accessible process for families to receive aid. 'It is most important that the City provides financial support as families navigate life after their loved one has been illegally taken without warning,' she wrote. 'We are seeing that many of our neighbors that have been kidnapped are the primary breadwinners of their family. This completely destabilizes their households, especially given the current state of our economy as we continue to see prices raise while wages stagnate.' Santa Ana's fund follows in the footsteps of nearby Anaheim, which created the Anaheim Contigo website last month, offering resources to families affected by immigration enforcement and providing emergency assistance grants through a partnership with the Anaheim Community Foundation. During the meeting, council members also approved a motion to submit a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records pertaining to recent ICE operations in Santa Ana as well as a resolution calling on Congress members representing Orange County to advocate for the removal of immigration agents and the National Guard from the city.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protesters gather at Santa Ana federal building: 'This is the healthiest thing to do'
In Santa Ana, about 120 protesters gathered outside a federal building near City Hall on Monday afternoon. Multiple raids had been conducted across Santa Ana that morning, including at Home Depots and restaurants and in industrial areas of the city. 'I feel enraged,' said Councilmember Jessie Lopez, standing with the crowd. 'If [U.S. Atty.] Bill Essayli cares about criminals, he should start at the White house.' Essayli last week sent a letter to Santa Ana, warning the sanctuary city about its proposal to pass a resolution that would require the Santa Ana Police Department to inform residents whenever they received a courtesy call from Immigration and Customs Enforcement alerting them about upcoming raids. Bethany Anderson was with a group of friends from Fullerton, where they had been receiving calls Monday. They were standing in front of a driveway that led to a small gated garage where unmarked white vans had been driving in and out all day. Read more: Bass enacts curfew for downtown L.A. to stem chaotic protests 'I knew they would bring people here' to the federal building, said Anderson, who is accredited by the Department of Justice as a legal representative. 'This is not a jail, so we have no idea about the quality of conditions inside, so that's very worrisome. Suddenly, she saw movement in the driveway and grabbed the bullhorn hanging from her shoulder. 'We see you!' Anderson shouted as protesters screamed, 'Shame!' and rushed to see what was going on. 'We see you, private security guards! You don't have to do this!' The Orange County Rapid Response Network posted addresses and photos of locations where ICE had conducted raids in Fountain Valley. The group's co-director, Casey Conway, said he was happy to see so many people show up in Santa Ana. 'But this isn't just today. This has been every day for three weeks. We're super overwhelmed right now.' The crowd held pro-immigrant and anti-Trump signs and waved Mexican flags. Someone passed around bottled waters and masks as a young woman chanted on a bullhorn, 'Move ICE, get out the way!' to artist Ludacris' song 'Move.' Federal police stood by the building's entrance, where some took photos of the crowd. When they went back inside, the crowd started chanting, '¡Quiere llorar!' — 'He wants to cry,' a common insult among Mexican soccer and rock fans. Alicia Rojas looked on from the edge of a sidewalk. The Colombian native had her amnesty application denied in the federal building as a child. 'This is all triggering,' said the 48-year-old artist. Now a U.S. citizen, Rojas grew up in Mission Viejo during the era of Prop. 187 and remembered all the racism against people like her at the time. Seeing so many young people out to protest made her 'hopeful, but I'm also worried. I've seen how the response has been to these peaceful protests. This administration has no capacity to be American.' She looked on. 'I feel rage inside, but this is the healthiest thing to do. More than anything. I'm here to look after the kids.' As the vans came in and out throughout the afternoon, activists at first blocked them but later backed down when federal agents shot pepper balls into the ground. Among those hit was Conway, who rushed to the side to have their reddened eyes washed out with water. Read more: L.A. City Council members spar with police chief over immigration protests 'I need someone to be on deescalation,' Conway gasped. The task fell to Tui Dashark. Dressed in neon green Doc Martens, an olive hat and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt, he led the crowd through chants including 'No firman nada' (Don't sign anything). 'Please stop throwing water bottles,' Dashark said at one point. 'They're just water bottles to us. But to them, it's assault with a deadly weapon.' The crowd calmed down. 'I'm proud of you guys for not escalating,' Dashark said. 'You're the f— real ones.' He turned to the gate driveway, where federal agents had quietly returned. 'You're so cool man,' Dashark said in a sarcastic voice as the crowd laughed. ' I wonder, what kind of person is up thinking, 'I want to lock up kids as a career?' As the day continued, the situation eventually evolved into the old children's game of Red Rover: Protesters would get too close and throw water bottles, federal agents would shoot pepper balls and eventually escalate to flash-bang grenades and tear gas. After a couple of hours, the crowd moved a couple of hundred feet to the east to Sasscer Park, named after a Santa Ana police officer killed in the 1960s by a member of the Black Panther Party. Local activists call it Black Panther Park. By 5 p.m., the protesters numbered at least 500. T-shirts emblazoned with logos of beloved Santa Ana Chicano institutions colored the scene: Suavecito. Gunthers. Funk Freaks. Santa Ana High. El Centro Cultural de México. People took turns on bullhorns to urge calm and to unite. But then another protester saw federal agents gathering at the federal building again. 'We gotta make them work overtime!' a young woman proclaimed on a bullhorn. 'They don't make enough money. let's go back!' The crowd rushed back to the federal building. Eventually, Santa Ana police officers arrived to create a line and declare an unlawful assembly. For the next four hours, the scene was akin to a party broken up occasionally by tear gas and less-than-lethal projectiles. Cars cruised on nearby streets blasting Rage against the Machine, sierreño music and the tunes of Panteón Rococó, a socialism-tinged Mexican ska group. Someone used AutoTune to shout profanities against the police, drawing giggles from the overwhelmingly Gen Z crowd. A Latina woman who gave her name only as Flor arrived with her teenage daughter. It was their first protest. Read more: ICE expands immigration raids into California's agricultural heartland 'We live in a MAGA-ass town and saw this on television,' Flor said. 'I grew up just down the street from here. No way can we let this happen here.' Nearby, Giovanni Lopez blew on a loud plastic horn. It was his first protest as well. 'I'm all for them deporting the criminals,' said the Santa Ana resident. He wore a white poncho bearing the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. 'But that's not what they're doing. My wife is Honduran and she's not a citizen. She's scared to go to her work now even though she's legal. I told her not to be afraid.' The Santa Ana police slowly pushed the protesters out of Sasscer Park. Some, like Brayn Nestor, bore bloody welts from the rubber bullets that had hit them. 'Does someone have a cigarette?' he asked out loud in Spanish. The Mexico City native said he was there to 'support the raza, güey.' He was in obvious pain, but the trademarks arachidonic humor of his native city still bubbled through. 'It's chido [cool] that they hit me,' he proclaimed to anyone who would listen. 'Es perro, güey [it's cool, dog]. So the world knows what jerks those pigs are.' Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Protesters gather at Santa Ana federal building: ‘This is the healthiest thing to do'
In Santa Ana, about 120 protesters gathered outside a federal building near City Hall on Monday afternoon. Multiple raids had been conducted across Santa Ana that morning, including at Home Depots and restaurants and in industrial areas of the city. 'I feel enraged,' said Councilmember Jessie Lopez, standing with the crowd. 'If [U.S. Atty.] Bill Essayli cares about criminals, he should start at the White house.' Essayli last week sent a letter to Santa Ana, warning the sanctuary city about its proposal to pass a resolution that would require the Santa Ana Police Department to inform residents whenever they received a courtesy call from Immigration and Customs Enforcement alerting them about upcoming raids. Bethany Anderson was with a group of friends from Fullerton, where they had been receiving calls Monday. They were standing in front of a driveway that led to a small gated garage where unmarked white vans had been driving in and out all day. 'I knew they would bring people here' to the federal building, said Anderson, who is accredited by the Department of Justice as a legal representative. 'This is not a jail, so we have no idea about the quality of conditions inside, so that's very worrisome. Suddenly, she saw movement in the driveway and grabbed the bullhorn hanging from her shoulder. 'We see you!' Anderson shouted as protesters screamed, 'Shame!' and rushed to see what was going on. 'We see you, private security guards! You don't have to do this!' The Orange County Rapid Response Network posted addresses and photos of locations where ICE had conducted raids in Fountain Valley. The group's co-director, Casey Conway, said he was happy to see so many people show up in Santa Ana. 'But this isn't just today. This has been every day for three weeks. We're super overwhelmed right now.' The crowd held pro-immigrant and anti-Trump signs and waved Mexican flags. Someone passed around bottled waters and masks as a young woman chanted on a bullhorn, 'Move ICE, get out the way!' to artist Ludacris' song 'Move.' Federal police stood by the building's entrance, where some took photos of the crowd. When they went back inside, the crowd started chanting, '¡Quiere llorar!' — 'He wants to cry,' a common insult among Mexican soccer and rock fans. Alicia Rojas looked on from the edge of a sidewalk. The Colombian native had her amnesty application denied in the federal building as a child. 'This is all triggering,' said the 48-year-old artist. Now a U.S. citizen, Rojas grew up in Mission Viejo during the era of Prop. 187 and remembered all the racism against people like her at the time. Seeing so many young people out to protest made her 'hopeful, but I'm also worried. I've seen how the response has been to these peaceful protests. This administration has no capacity to be American.' She looked on. 'I feel rage inside, but this is the healthiest thing to do. More than anything. I'm here to look after the kids.' As the vans came in and out throughout the afternoon, activists at first blocked them but later backed down when federal agents shot pepper balls into the ground. Among those hit was Conway, who rushed to the side to have their reddened eyes washed out with water. 'I need someone to be on deescalation,' Conway gasped. The task fell to Tui Dashark. Dressed in neon green Doc Martens, an olive hat and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt, he led the crowd through chants including 'No firman nada' (Don't sign anything). 'Please stop throwing water bottles,' Dashark said at one point. 'They're just water bottles to us. But to them, it's assault with a deadly weapon.' The crowd calmed down. 'I'm proud of you guys for not escalating,' Dashark said. 'You're the f— real ones.' He turned to the gate driveway, where federal agents had quietly returned. 'You're so cool man,' Dashark said in a sarcastic voice as the crowd laughed. ' I wonder, what kind of person is up thinking, 'I want to lock up kids as a career?' As the day continued, the situation eventually evolved into the old children's game of Red Rover: Protesters would get too close and throw water bottles, federal agents would shoot pepper balls and eventually escalate to flash-bang grenades and tear gas. After a couple of hours, the crowd moved a couple of hundred feet to the east to Sasscer Park, named after a Santa Ana police officer killed in the 1960s by a member of the Black Panther Party. Local activists call it Black Panther Park. By 5 p.m., the protesters numbered at least 500. T-shirts emblazoned with logos of beloved Santa Ana Chicano institutions colored the scene: Suavecito. Gunthers. Funk Freaks. Santa Ana High. El Centro Cultural de México. People took turns on bullhorns to urge calm and to unite. But then another protester saw federal agents gathering at the federal building again. 'We gotta make them work overtime!' a young woman proclaimed on a bullhorn. 'They don't make enough money. let's go back!' The crowd rushed back to the federal building. Eventually, Santa Ana police officers arrived to create a line and declare an unlawful assembly. For the next four hours, the scene was akin to a party broken up occasionally by tear gas and less-than-lethal projectiles. Cars cruised on nearby streets blasting Rage against the Machine, sierreño music and the tunes of Panteón Rococó, a socialism-tinged Mexican ska group. Someone used AutoTune to shout profanities against the police, drawing giggles from the overwhelmingly Gen Z crowd. A Latina woman who gave her name only as Flor arrived with her teenage daughter. It was their first protest. 'We live in a MAGA-ass town and saw this on television,' Flor said. 'I grew up just down the street from here. No way can we let this happen here.' Nearby, Giovanni Lopez blew on a loud plastic horn. It was his first protest as well. 'I'm all for them deporting the criminals,' said the Santa Ana resident. He wore a white poncho bearing the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. 'But that's not what they're doing. My wife is Honduran and she's not a citizen. She's scared to go to her work now even though she's legal. I told her not to be afraid.' The Santa Ana police slowly pushed the protesters out of Sasscer Park. Some, like Brayn Nestor, bore bloody welts from the rubber bullets that had hit them. 'Does someone have a cigarette?' he asked out loud in Spanish. The Mexico City native said he was there to 'support the raza, güey.' He was in obvious pain, but the trademarks arachidonic humor of his native city still bubbled through. 'It's chido [cool] that they hit me,' he proclaimed to anyone who would listen. 'Es perro, güey [it's cool, dog]. So the world knows what jerks those pigs are.'
Los Angeles Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
O.C. politicians denounce ICE raids as the National Guard deploys in Santa Ana
Rep. Lou Correa assembled community leaders in front of his 46th District congressional office in Santa Ana to send a message following a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in the city that stoked fears, spread confusion and spurred angry downtown protests. 'We want to tell America who Santa Ana is [and] what this immigration issue is all about,' Correa, a Democrat, said during a Tuesday morning press conference. 'It's not us versus them. We are all part of the American fabric, part of the American community.' Correa flew to Washington, D.C. on Monday, but immediately boarded a flight back home once he learned of ICE raids carried out in Santa Ana as part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. By then, the Orange County Rapid Response Network, a coalition that monitors ICE activities, spread the word about immigration authorities arresting workers at locations like a Fountain Valley carwash and outside of a Home Depot in Santa Ana. Based on a Tuesday morning visit to an ICE detention facility in Santa Ana, Correa placed the number of immigrants in custody at 31 and described seeing a couple of detainees still wearing their painter overalls. He noted an accurate count is hard to pin down with multiple federal agencies involved in the enforcement actions. ICE did not respond to a TimesOC request for confirmation of the number of unauthorized immigrants arrested by press deadline. The Orange County sweeps followed ICE activity, raids and protests against them over the weekend in Los Angeles County as the Trump administration has since deployed the California National Guard and U.S. Marines to Southern California. Law enforcement agencies responding to downtown Los Angeles protests arrested 163 people through Monday. In response to news of O.C. immigration sweeps, activists gathered outside of the federal building in Santa Ana on Monday to protest. Federal agents shot pepper balls to disperse people who attempted to block vans from exiting the building. The protest swelled in numbers around Civic Center Plaza in downtown when the Santa Ana Police Department declared an unlawful assembly at about 8:30 p.m. Fireworks exploded near local and federal authorities. Some protesters also hurled rocks, bottles and other projectiles toward law enforcement. Officers shot pepper balls, tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds. Natalie Garcia, a spokesperson for the Santa Ana Police Department, confirmed that officers arrested 11 people Monday on suspicion of failure to disperse, assault on an officer and vandalism. In Sacramento Tuesday, the California Latino Legislative Caucus held a news conference where Assemblyman Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) denounced the ICE raids, as the 68th District he represents includes Santa Ana. 'It really is heartbreaking to witness what is unfolding in our communities across our state,' he said. 'Let me be clear: President Trump is using these raids to intimidate our communities and instill fear.' 'This deportation tactic that the president is implementing is about demonstrating his ability to govern through brute force,' Valencia added. Other Santa Ana elected officials held another press conference in front of the Old Orange County Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon. Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento recalled consoling a woman whose uncle was detained by immigration authorities at a Santa Ana Home Depot while seeking work. 'To the federal administration, we demand that you take your militarized equipment and troops and stop occupying our communities immediately,' he said. 'Yesterday, I personally witnessed the efforts of ICE officers clearly intending to escalate what was a lawful and peaceful demonstration.' In downtown Santa Ana, National Guard troops in beige camouflage with rifles slung on their shoulders blocked vehicle access along 4th Street near the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse on Tuesday morning. Correa told TimesOC that it's an 'irony' that National Guard troops are in Santa Ana when, on Jan. 6, 2021, they hadn't been deployed during the pro-Trump Capitol riot in Washington, D.C. as he took cover in the House chamber. Correa called for protests to be peaceful in the non-violent tradition of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the press conference while also deeming the ICE raids to be 'counterproductive.' 'If you've got serious, violent criminals in our community, come get them,' he said. 'But workers that are taking care of our seniors, feeding us, being part of the economic miracle that's called California, let's work on that. We need immigration reform.' Even before Monday's raids, federal agents arrested individuals after their ICE check-in appointments in Santa Ana on June 6. 'It's my understanding that in a lot of cases, they're going before a judge,' Correa told TimesOC. 'Authorities will, essentially, dismiss an order of deportation. [But] before they walk out, they're rearrested and put on an expedited order of deportation.' As the Trump administration deployed 700 active-duty Marines, some of them remain at the Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach. They have not appeared in Santa Ana as of Tuesday evening. Correa told the press that his community does not need Marines. 'What are we coming to?' he said. 'This is not America.'
Newsweek
23-05-2025
- Newsweek
'Serial Cat Killer' Sparks Warning for California Pet Owners
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. California prosecutors have asked the court to increase the bail of a man accused of killing multiple cats due to the "danger" he poses to public safety after he didn't show up for his arraignment earlier this week. Alejandro Oliveros Acosta, a 46-year-old Santa Ana resident, is accused of luring cats with cat food, kidnapping them and stomping and beating them to death, the Orange County district attorney's office said in a Tuesday press release. Why It Matters Oliveros Acosta is facing two counts of felony animal cruelty, one felony count of theft of a companion animal, a Bengal Lynx, and one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance. Santa Ana Animal Control began receiving reports of injured and dead cats near the area of W. Wilshire Avenue and S. Clara Street in November 2024. Between November and April, animal control received seven reports that included felines who were suffering from broken backs and bloody faces. What To Know Oliveros Acosta was arrested by the Santa Ana Police Department and the Westminster Police Department on April 24. He was released after posting the $40,000 statutory bail ($20,000 separately on the Westminster and Santa Ana cases) before the police department finished its investigation and referred the case to the Orange County district attorney's office's animal abuse prosecutor. The district attorney's office called for Oliveros Acosta's bail to be increased to $100,000. When Oliveros Acosta didn't show up for his arraignment, Superior Court Judge Stephen J. McGreevy issued a bench warrant for his arrest and raised his bond to $50,000, USA Today reported. The Santa Ana Police Department wrote last month on Facebook that Oliveros Acosta was positively identified by several victims and witnesses as the suspect responsible for the alleged animal cruelty. Officials called the inquiry a "serial cat killer investigation." Detectives then obtained a search warrant for Oliveros Acosta's residence and collected evidence related to the case. The 46-year-old is also accused of having methamphetamine on him when he was booked into jail, prosecutors said. What People Are Saying Santa Ana Police Department wrote on Facebook last month: "We recognize the strong emotions this case has generated and ask the public to please allow the judicial process to take its course." Eva Corlew, whose Bengal Lynx cat Clubber went missing in November and was later returned, told KCAL News in March: "I feel a little scared that this person is out there stealing multiple cats, not just mine, and doing god knows what with them." What Happens Next According to The Times, authorities have said Oliveros Acosta's whereabouts are unknown. Oliveros Acosta is facing a maximum sentence of four years and four months if convicted on the felony charges and an additional year if convicted on the misdemeanor charge. Prosecutors said additional evidence will be reviewed to determine whether additional criminal charges can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact Santa Ana Police Investigative Specialist Sophia Guzman at 714-245-8416 or SGuzman@ Do you have a story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@
