ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Anaheim Marketplace is an indoor market where 200 mainly Hispanic-run shops operate.

What You Need To Know

The Anaheim Contigo program was created last summer when ICE enforcement started to ramp up in the city

As part of the Anaheim Contigo program, Chief Communications Officer Mike Lyster with the city of Anaheim said he often attends police related incidents to reassure the public that what is happening has nothing to do with immigration

Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Leon said this funding will go toward helping residents find their loved ones during the first 24-72 hours after they were detained

Leon said over the next few weeks his team will be working to identify a nonprofit to partner with and create a hotline for community members to call if their family member has been taken by ICE

Just outside the Anaheim Marketplace is where M&H Auto Sales sells vehicles to a mainly Hispanic clientele. 

Miguel Esperza is a car salesman there, and he said because Immigration and Customs Enforcement started ramping up last summer, business has slowed down.

“Basically, when this thing started happening last year, the business, maybe four months or so, it just went down the drain,” Esperza said. 

According to the U.S. Census, 53% of the population in Anaheim is Hispanic.  

Being an Anaheim resident himself, Esperza said his neighbors are very scared of being taken by ICE.  

“Thank God I am legal in this country and I don’t have a problem like that, but uh, all my family we live in this country but I see other people that are suffering and it is sad,” Esperza said. 

In late March, the Anaheim Police Department was conducting an illegal gambling bust inside the Anaheim Marketplace. 

“We don’t want anyone to think this was immigration,” said Mike Lyster, who is the chief communications officer with the City of Anaheim, while speaking to a man in charge of the Anaheim Marketplace. 

As part of the Anaheim Contigo program, he said he often attends police-related incidents to reassure the public that what is happening has nothing to do with immigration. 

He said his team also drives throughout the community, going door to door. 

“We are out there to educate and in cases where there is actual immigration enforcement, we are there to figure out what happened,” Lyster said. 

The Anaheim Contigo program was created last summer when ICE enforcement started to ramp up in the city. 

That program dedicated $250,000 to provide real-time information on federal immigration enforcement and emergency assistance for residents. 

Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Leon said he realized Anaheim Contigo was missing an Immigrant Legal Defense Fund, so he pushed for its creation. 

Recently, the Anaheim City Council unanimously approved a $100,000  city-funded expansion. 

Leon said this funding will go toward helping residents find their loved ones during the first 24-72 hours after they were detained., which is crucial because after this window, those detained often get transferred out of state or to a long-term holding facility. 

“We have families that don’t know what to do, don’t know where to go, they are unfortunately being taken advantage of,” Leon said. “We know of families that have spent $20,000, $30,000 with nothing to show for it and they don’t have legal guidance as to what their next steps should be in that critical period of time.” 

Leon said over the next few weeks his team will work to identify a nonprofit to partner with and create a hotline for community members to call if their family member has been taken by ICE. 

Kelsey Gordon is the advocacy and operations director for the Orange County Rapid Response Network, which is a nonprofit that supports immigrant communities. 

Gordon said she is grateful the city is providing funding to support the immigrant community, but she does not think $100,000 will be enough. 

“Immigration cases can go on for a long time, and sometimes those fees are upwards of $10,000 and so $100,000 is going to go really quick,” Gordon said.