EXCLUSIVE: Santa Ana Police Department Received Forty-Two Alerts From Immigration Agents And Did Not Tell The Community
SAPD withheld information about ICE/DHS targeting Santa Ana neighborhoods. New map tool brings transparency to immigration agents' activity in Santa Ana.
Update: May 19th, 2025: The council is set to discuss implementing a policy that would require the police department to proactively disclose the ICE alerts they receive. The proposed policy can be read here.
Newly released data shows that ICE/DHS notified the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) of their plans to be within city limits at least forty-two times since January 20th. SAPD withheld this information from the community until a recent public records request by Inadvertent. The data is now accessible on this map tool.
The data shows that immigration agents typically alerted SAPD between 5 A.M. and 9 A.M. It is unclear if this means that ICE/DHS agents entered the community at those times as well.
In their response to the records request, SAPD stated that they “[do] not assist on these incidents” and that “the information is provided to [SAPD] as a courtesy” which they use for “officer safety and situational awareness.”
SAPD did not publicly disclose this information proactively, as it does with its weekly firearm seizures or narcotics seizures. It released similar data in 2021 to another request.
At the February 4th city council meeting, SAPD Chief Robert Rodriguez made no mention of these alerts, despite Mayor Valerie Amezcua asking him directly about immigration enforcement actions in the city.
Amezcua did not respond to repeated requests for comment. SAPD spokesperson Natalie Garcia did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Councilmember Jessie Lopez said via email statement: “We need leadership that is willing to confront these hard truths, not hide away from them. Our city should be fighting to protect our immigrant and refugee communities, not quietly coordinating with federal agencies that have a track record of harm.”
Sandra De Anda, an organizer with Orange County Rapid Response Network (OCRRN) said, “Providing transparent, timely information—even when it’s difficult—is a responsibility of city leadership. Doing so empowers residents to take steps to protect their families, whether by seeking legal counsel, creating family preparedness plans, or making informed decisions about remaining in the city.”
OCRRN organizes to provide timely resources to those being targeted by immigration agents. They also respond to community members who call the OCRRN hotline to report ICE/DHS sightings. Most recently, they began advocacy to free Mina Soliman, an Anaheim resident who was taken by ICE in Santa Ana last week at a routine check-in appointment.
Immigration Agents Targeting Santa Ana Neighborhoods
Between February 14th and March 29th, federal agents targeted the 400 block of North Eastwood Avenue at least six times, the data reveals. The block consists of multifamily residential housing, single-family homes, and a tire service shop at one end of the block.
On April 11th and 24th ICE targeted the 600 block of North Western Avenue — where a religious school and houses share the street.
De Anda said that the data “reflects a lot of the calls that they are getting from Santa Ana residents” but cited “distrust” in the city government for not disclosing the data prior.
During the February 4th meeting, the city aired this message from Rodriguez where he stated that the department does not use its resources to help ICE/DHS, except for criminal investigations. While the message was seemingly aired to help the public understand what the SAPD’s role, if any, is in ICE’s family separation actions, the chief still made no mention about the data his department was withholding.
Councilmember Ben Vazquez said that the data is “disheartening” and that the city should “coordinate with local schools and districts to give [families] all the support they need.”
Councilmember Hernandez stated that he will move to “ensure that all dialogue we receive from ICE will be reported to the public and that we begin providing live up to date information on ICE activity on the city’s website.”
Councilmembers Phan, Bacerra and Penaloza did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment on the data or their plans within the city.
This is a developing story.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Councilmember Hernandez.