Fullerton is moving to create immigrant aid funds as Santa Ana – the heart of Orange County’s Latino community – is looking to continue rent assistance and other vital aid for residents impacted by ICE raids.
The move comes as Santa Ana officials are bracing for a projected $30 million deficit in a few years and after the city was hit hard by immigration sweeps on Sunday – a day after nationwide No Kings protests.
[Read: Thousands of People Rail Against ICE Raids, Other Federal Policies in Orange County]
On Tuesday, Santa Ana City Council members directed staff to search for $100,000 or $150,000 from various city departments to bolster their immigrant aid fund that is expected to deplete at the end of the month.
“We already have asked our finance director to see if we can evaluate adding additional funds. I think if we look across the city agencies for first quarter salary savings, we should be able to come out with some $100,000, $150,000 if we get more than we’ll do that also,” said City Manager Alvaro Nuñez at Tuesday’s meeting.
Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
In Fullerton, city council members are gearing up to potentially create a $100,000 general aid fund – helping impacted residents with things like groceries and rent – and a $100,000 immigrant legal defense fund.
Fullerton City Councilman Ahmad Zahra, who spearheaded the proposal, said “by creating a flexible fund that we can work with nonprofits in our city to assess the need, that way we can determine how much money we allocate into it.”
Like Santa Ana, the smaller North Orange County city is also struggling with a budget gap.
As Fullerton faces a $10 million deficit, Zahra said opening the aid funds to donations can help ease the blow to city finances.
“That way the city’s budget isn’t completely carrying this entire cost.”
The expected aid expansion comes as elected leaders in other OC cities call on local police officers to work with immigration enforcement agents – a move other officials warn would defy state sanctuary law.
[Read: As Immigration Aid Expands in OC, A Westminster Official Wants Police Working With ICE]
Santa Ana Looks to Bolster Aid After Recent Sweeps
Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
The expected additional money for Santa Ana’s immigrant aid fund, dubbed Ayuda Sin Fronteras, comes after officials approved the fund three months ago.
At the time, Mayor Valerie Amezcua initially suggested they cancel all city events to free up a $1 million to support immigrant families but several of her colleagues opposed that idea and officials ultimately settled on using 10% of the city events budget for the aid program.
“We could have done a lot more with a million dollars, and we could still be doing more,” Amezcua said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Councilman David Penaloza said they can still consider pulling money from city events to bolster the fund.
“Staff have made comments in the past that they have seen a decline in attendance at our festivals so is this really a right way to spend the city’s resources when our city is under attack,” he said at the meeting.
The expected funding increase comes as local residents and activists called on leaders to heavily bolster the program after 16 people were reportedly arrested Sunday by federal immigration agents – something elected officials also spoke out against on Tuesday.
An online petition calling on Santa Ana officials to continue funding their immigrant aid fund garnered over 1,500 signatures ahead of Tuesday’s discussion.
The petition points to the past weekend’s immigration sweeps and calls on city council members to allocate at least a half million dollars to the fund and revisit a previous proposal to set aside $1 million to aid immigrants.
“These raids are not isolated events. They are part of a growing pattern of fear and intimidation that targets immigrant families who contribute to and strengthen our city,” reads the petition.
“The City has the opportunity to stand with immigrant families and reaffirm Santa Ana’s commitment to protecting its most vulnerable residents.”
Councilwoman Jessie Lopez supported the move and said they should also increase the separate legal aid fund for immigrants.
“Legal barriers are the number one concern or reason why people are not represented,” she said at the meeting.
Fullerton Takes First Steps to Create Aid Funds
A view down N. Harbor Blvd. towards Downtown Fullerton on Oct. 5, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC
Fullerton Mayor Fred Jung – an immigrant himself – said he understands the rising concerns from residents.
“Indeed as it’s been pointed out through much of my life, I am an immigrant and I’m told all the time – even now – to go home. So I realize when desperate communities are crying out to help,” Jung said.
But, he warned, the city’s facing a dire financial situation.
“We are operating on a $10 million paper deficit, that’s not a practical reality, that’s the truth,” Jung said. “I’ve spoken with many of you who’ve asked offline – I’ve heard you, I understand your consideration and I told you mine. I hope you understand that too.”
Ultimately, City Council members voted 3-2 to direct staff to bring back proposals to create a $100,000 general aid fund and a $100,000 immigrant legal defense fund with Councilman Nick Dunlap and Mayor Jung voting against the move.
“I just want to make it clear what we’re doing tonight is we’re just examining possibilities of what we could do at the next meeting,” Councilwoman Shana Charles said.
During Tuesday’s public comment portion of the meeting, two people objected to the move while over 20 people supported the aid funds, including local clergy who said their churches rolled out similar initiatives despite tight budgets.
Todd Harrison, a Fullerton resident who’s long advocated for senior mobile home park rent control, spoke at the public comment dais, recalling a time he met a family member who survived the Holocaust when he was younger.
“He had blue numbers tattooed down his forearm and now the freaking Nazis are back here again, dividing the country by race,” Harrison said during Tuesday’s meeting. “It doesn’t matter what makes you stand out, remember you could be next. Current events have certainly very much proven that. There is no limit to the atrocities that prejudice will impose on us.”
A view of part of the SOCO District in Downtown Fullerton on Oct. 5, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC
City staff said that municipalities can use local tax dollars to help residents impacted by deportation sweeps – noting they can’t use any federal dollars to assist undocumented immigrants.
“Legal analyses confirm cities may lawfully allocate local General Fund dollars or reserves to support legal defense or humanitarian programs for affected residents,” reads the city staff report.
Fullerton City Council members have also long struggled with a rocky budget.
City staff also noted that council members could lean on reserves to fund the aid programs.
“Cities such as Costa Mesa and Santa Ana identified discretionary funding sources to support similar initiatives. Costa Mesa allocated funds from its General Fund Contingency to provide immediate relief and establish a legal-defense program, while Santa Ana discussed potentially reallocating portions of its Special Events budget to launch a comparable initiative,” reads the staff report.
Jody Agius Vallejo, a Fullerton resident and USC professor who specializes in immigration, said deportation raids will soon ramp up because the Department of Homeland Security got a massive boost in federal funding.
Earlier this year, $191 billion was allocated to the department, which oversees ICE – $6 billion more than the U.S. Army’s budget during the last fiscal year.
“It is happening right here under all of our watch,” Agius Vallejo said, adding that impacted residents “need our support because this is not the end of the people here in your chambers, it is not the end of the stories you’re hearing today and it is not going to stop.”
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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