Santa Ana demands ICE out of the courts
Santa Ana, CA – On Friday, May 30, chants of “ICE out of Santa Ana!” were heard on the corner of Dyer and Hotel Terrace, where about 20 community members gathered to protest the recent ICE detainments of immigrants attending their hearings at the nearby courthouse.
ICE presence inside courts is an anti-immigrant measure stemming from the Executive Office for Immigration Review Director Sirce E. Owen, appointed by the Trump administration. In a new policy that took effect January 28, she signed off on the Cancellation Of Operating Policies And Procedures Memorandum which allows ICE agents to apprehend, arrest, interview and search immigrants in or near the courthouse.
ICE has been present inside the Santa Ana immigration courtrooms since Tuesday, May 20 and has been detaining people nearly every day since. The court operates Monday through Friday, with ICE agents covering up their faces with masks and having white vans ready to detain people.
Santa Ana, which is a sanctuary city, is just one of many places ICE has been escalating its attacks against immigrants. ICE arrests inside immigration courthouses have been occurring all across the country in places such as Miami, New York City and San Diego County.
“Say it once, say it twice, we will not put up with ICE!” chanted the protesters as they held signs demanding ICE out of the courts and no more deportations.
Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) member Diana Terreros stated, “The reason we are out here today is because several people from our community have been arrested by ICE in the last couple of days nearby at the Santa Ana immigration court. On Wednesday, about ten arrests were made, including some children!”
Terreros went on to state CSO OC’s demands, “CSO condemns these arrests and policy changes. We demand ICE out of Santa Ana. We demand ICE out of the courts. We demand legalization for all. If the executive branch of the government has the power to make these harmful and drastic policy changes, then they have the power to grant legalization to all of the undocumented in the U.S!”
Casey McGuirie Conway, from OC Rapid Response Network (OCRRN) shared, “Most of these arrests were illegal. They are dropping them [immigrants] off at random jails, city jails. That is illegal!” OCRRN alongside other organizations, lawyers, and volunteers have been legally observing the recent detainments and documenting the arrests made.
“What they [ICE] are doing is illegal and what they are doing is cruel. They have been detaining people at the Santa Ana ICE Field Office and are now rounding up people at the courts who are just trying to pursue their immigration case,” said CSO OC member Rain Mendoza.
Mendoza also called on the crowd to join the fight for immigration rights, stating, “We at CSO are doing barrio walks to find out what the needs of the immigrant community are and to educate them on their rights. If you would like to join us in our struggle and in putting on actions such as these, please join us!”
Protesters continued to chant as the protest came to an end, “Hey hey ho ho, these ICE arrests have got to go!” and “When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
The action was organized by CSO OC. If you live in Orange County and are interested in CSO OC’s work fighting for police accountability and immigrant rights, they can be contacted by phone: (714) 367–6350, Instagram at @cso.oc or email, [email protected]. If you live in Orange County and are interested in becoming a legal observer or ICE watcher for the OC Rapid Response Network, please contact them at OCRRN on Instagram.