Dozens of community members and local activists crowded into Garden Grove City Hall, many wielding signs and raising their message: “Stand with Immigrants, Not Ice!”
Brought together by a number of local groups to attend the recent council meeting, the community members banded together to press their elected representatives, again, to address their concerns about the local reaction to immigration enforcement activity.
What constituents saw as a first step in that direction, was the council moving forward with a resolution for the city to post a know-your-rights resource page on its website.
“This isn’t something that I bring forward because I think it’s somehow going to stop federal law enforcement from doing any enforcement activity here. They’re going to do what they’re going to want to do,” said Councilmember Ariana Arestegui,who brought the resolution to her colleagues.
“This is about making sure that all our residents have access to information about what your constitutional rights are,” she said.
Councilmembers still wanted to make some changes to the proposal and a new version with tweaked language is expected to return for a vote on Nov. 12.
There has been months of back-and-forth between community members and the City Council and between the councilmembers themselves on what Garden Grove should do on the local level to address federal immigration enforcement activity.
For several months, Garden Grove residents have voiced concerns to their elected leaders over stepped-up immigration enforcement, promised by President Donald Trump in his campaign to return to the White House.
Considered the fifth-largest city in Orange County, roughly 46.8% of Garden Grove’s 171,000 or so residents are immigrants. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than a third of the city’s residents are non-citizens.
According to the Harbor Institute for Immigrant & Economic Justice — one of the nonprofits supporting the Garden Grove resolution — more than a dozen people have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Garden Grove since June.
But that’s a “very, very conservative” number based on publicly available information, said Mai Nguyen, research and policy manager for the organization.
“Many of our Vietnamese community members get taken at ICE check-ins rather than off the street,” Nguyen said.
During Trump’s first term, the United States and Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding that created a process for deporting immigrants who entered the U.S. before 1995. That agreement targets much of Garden Grove’s Vietnamese population, who emigrated to the U.S. in their plight from communism after the Vietnam War.
Over the summer, neighboring cities Anaheim, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa either joined or filed in support of a class action lawsuit challenging immigration stops and raids without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. They also created legal funds and resource programs for impacted community members.
And the Garden Grove Unified School District has put up a page on its website dedicated to immigration resources and aid for families impacted by raids.
But the Garden Grove City Council has been repeatedly criticized by several of its residents for its failure to take concrete action. The lack of response in part stems from concerns raised bya couple of councilmembers that taking action could make the city a bigger target for enforcement.
“We’re opening ourselves up for a lot of issues. I don’t want to go to prison,” Councilmember George Brietigam said, referring to a letter from the Assistant U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to Gov. Gavin Newsom warning that arresting federal agents performing their duties would violate federal laws.
“Every city got a copy,” Brietigam said. Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein reiterated those concerns.
“I think it is a very slippery slope and slightly dangerous to direct staff in this manner,” she said of the proposed resources page.
Councilmember Phillip Nguyen sided with Arestegui in support of the resolution, although he clarified the city does not have authority over federal activity.
“Keep in mind, this resolution does not provide any protections for the resident from ICE or federal officers,” Nguyen said. “We cannot protect you. But I like this revised resolution because it will provide the information that will be put on the city website.”
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