{"id":267338,"date":"2026-04-14T13:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T13:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/267338\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T13:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T13:44:16","slug":"boots-on-the-ground-behind-anaheims-contigo-program-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/267338\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Boots on the ground\u2019 behind Anaheim\u2019s Contigo program \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Immigration enforcement raids have slowed in Anaheim since January, but city leaders recently committed up to another $100,000 of funding for their emergency assistance initiative<\/a>, responding to a need in the community for help with legal defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a different place today than we were at the peak,\u201d Anaheim\u2019s Chief Communications Officer Mike Lyster said. \u201cThere is still a need for real-time information, there\u2019s still a need for emergency assistance grants, but now you have many people going through the immigration court process.\u201d<\/p>\n

As federal immigration enforcement officials spread out into Orange County cities last May, carrying out President Donald Trump\u2019s promise to curtail illegal immigration and increase deportations, concern spread through communities as agents were spotted and raids reported.<\/p>\n

And as immigrants started avoiding public places and staying indoors, the Anaheim City Council launched the city\u2019s Contigo program in June<\/a> with an initial $250,000 to provide those affected with financial support and establish a team to track and alert residents to immigration enforcement activity in the city.<\/p>\n

Immigration sweeps peaked in Orange County\u2019s most populous city last summer with at least 30 detainments between mid-June and mid-September, including when federal officers descended several times on car washes<\/a> and a Home Depot, ending in several deportations.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Euclid Car Wash, at the corner of Euclid and La Palma in the City of Anaheim has been the site of 6 seperate federal immigration raids in recent months. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n

But raids slowed, Lyster said, following nationwide protests after a string of fatal civilian shootings by immigration officers in Minneapolis.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Now the Contigo team can go weeks without seeing activity. And when there is activity, it\u2019s targeted, as opposed to the broader sweeps the city saw over the summer, he said.<\/p>\n

Every 10 days, the average for recent months, the Contigo team<\/a> confirms a detainment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s currently the running trend,\u201d Lyster said, part of the \u201cboots on the ground\u201d team the city created, whose members \u2014 also including city communication specialists Alan Reyes, Esther Kwon and Natalie Aguirre \u2014 verify and post real-time updates on immigration enforcement activity in Anaheim and steer affected families toward grants and resources.<\/p>\n

Federal officers are sparing in their communication with the city\u2019s Police Department, Lyster said, and \u201cwe do not have any sort of detailed knowledge of their operations, and we tend to find out something when everybody else may find out about it, but we\u2019ve built a very good network.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between tips from councilmembers and trusted residents and surveying social media for immigration enforcement activity, the Contigo team has partnered with community groups such as the Orange County Rapid Response Network,<\/a> a coalition of nonprofits, attorneys and organizations, to try and keep up.<\/p>\n

The latest round of Contigo funding will go toward a contract with a nonprofit immigration legal services provider that can help represent those who\u2019ve been detained<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With people in detainment, the legal defense component \u201creflects a secondary stage of this,\u201d Lyster said, \u201cwhere now the legal needs of those who have been impacted are pretty much equal to the need for information and emergency assistance grants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City of Anaheim Chief Communications Officer Mike Lyster, left, and Communications Specialist Natalie Aguirre talk to a vendor inside the Anaheim Marketplace to inform her that the city and local law enforcement will never work with federal immigration officers during a Contigo Initiative outreach following recent ICE raids that have the left the community on edge on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City of Anaheim Chief Communications Officer Mike Lyster, left, and Communications Specialists Natalie Aguirre, center, and Esther Kwon talk to a vendor inside the Anaheim Marketplace to inform her that the city and local law enforcement will never work with federal immigration officers during a Contigo Initiative outreach following recent ICE raids that have the left the community on edge on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Lyster, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Anaheim, speaks to a resident inside the Anaheim Marketplace, near where recent ICE raids have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, as part of the city\u2019s Contigo Initiative, aimed at communicating to residents that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 3<\/p>\n

City of Anaheim Chief Communications Officer Mike Lyster, left, and Communications Specialist Natalie Aguirre talk to a vendor inside the Anaheim Marketplace to inform her that the city and local law enforcement will never work with federal immigration officers during a Contigo Initiative outreach following recent ICE raids that have the left the community on edge on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nContigo, \u2018With You\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand your fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s often the first thing Aguirre, the Contigo team\u2019s Spanish speaker, tells families who\u2019ve seen a loved one detained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many people in our neighborhoods that are closely affected by this,\u201d said Aguirre, who helped pick the name Contigo, translating to \u201cwith you\u201d in Spanish. \u201cWhether their loved one has been detained or is just living in the fear of potentially being detained, it\u2019s definitely a tough situation all around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aguirre said she can relate, the daughter of immigrants who now have their citizenship, \u201cbut for a while, were in very similar situations to what some of these community members are in.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a detainment, the priority of the Contigo team is to \u201cexplain to them what the next steps are and to provide as much guidance as we can,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Lyster, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Anaheim, speaks to a resident in front of the Anaheim Marketplace, near where recent ICE raids have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, as part of the city\u2019s Contigo Initiative, aimed at communicating to residents that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Natalie<\/p>\n

Natalie Aguirre, center, a Communications Specialist for the City of Anaheim, and Esther Kwon, a Senior Communications Specialist, talk with a resident of the Romneya neighborhood, assuring him that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, during a Contigo Initiative outreach on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City of Anaheim representatives Mike Lyster, right, Chief Communications Officer, and Communications Specialists Natalie Aguirre, left, and Esther Kwon talk to a resident of the Romneya neighborhood on his driveway to let him know that the city and local law enforcement will never work with federal immigration officers during a Contigo Initiative outreach following recent ICE raids that have the left the community on edge on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City of Anaheim Communications Specialists Esther Kwon, right, and Natalie Aguirre talk with a resident of the Romneya neighborhood, assuring her that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, following recent ICE raids that have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, during a Contigo Initiative outreach on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Lyster, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Anaheim, speaks to a resident in front of the Anaheim Marketplace, near where recent ICE raids have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, as part of the city\u2019s Contigo Initiative, aimed at communicating to residents that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Lyster, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Anaheim, speaks to a resident in front of her home in the Romneya neighborhood, where recent ICE raids have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, as part of the city\u2019s Contigo Initiative, aimed at communicating to residents that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Lyster, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Anaheim, speaks to a resident in front of his home in the Romneya neighborhood, where recent ICE raids have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, as part of the city\u2019s Contigo Initiative, aimed at communicating to residents that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City of Anaheim Communications Specialists Esther Kwon, left, and Natalie Aguirre talk with a resident of the Romneya neighborhood, assuring him that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, following recent ICE raids that have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, during a Contigo Initiative outreach on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Lyster, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Anaheim, looks for residents to talk to as he drives through the Romneya neighborhood, where recent ICE raids have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, as part of the city\u2019s Contigo Initiative, aimed at communicating to residents that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Lyster, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Anaheim, speaks to a resident at Manzanita Park, near where recent ICE raids have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, as part of the city\u2019s Contigo Initiative, aimed at communicating to residents that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City of Anaheim Communications Specialists Esther Kwon, center, and Natalie Aguirre talk with a resident of the Romneya neighborhood, assuring him that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, following recent ICE raids that have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, during a Contigo Initiative outreach on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 11<\/p>\n

Mike Lyster, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Anaheim, speaks to a resident in front of the Anaheim Marketplace, near where recent ICE raids have left the largely immigrant community on high alert, as part of the city\u2019s Contigo Initiative, aimed at communicating to residents that the city and local law enforcement never work with federal immigration officers, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Last month, federal officers detained a man making his way out of his home and to his truck to get to work; he was deported, the Contigo team learned, that day around 6 p.m. to Tijuana, \u201cwhere he really has no connection with,\u201d Lyster said.<\/p>\n

For the next few weeks, \u201cwe were thinking about potentially planning a trip (for the family) to visit him, making sure people had passports, and being in contact with the Mexican consulate,\u201d Lyster said. \u201cDepending on what the situation is, we will provide them with information and then provide them with the referrals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Contigo team has fielded hundreds of reports of immigration activity, going into neighborhoods and working with residents to piece together whether the reports were substantiated, whether anyone was detained and how to best connect residents with resources.<\/p>\n

As of mid-March, $225,262 had been granted to 343 Anaheim residents. And the city recently launched a new housing support program, Stay Housed Anaheim<\/a>, which is intended to help Anaheim residents impacted by immigration enforcement with one-time emergency rental assistance up to $3,000.<\/p>\n

The legal defense component is on track to go live this month, Lyster said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working on creating this legal defense fund for some time now and that really puts things into perspective, the importance of our roles,\u201d said Councilmember Carlos Leon, who helped pioneer Contigo.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough our role has nothing to do with federal enforcement, and we can\u2019t control what is happening, we\u2019re trying to at least control how we respond,\u201d Leon said.<\/p>\n

Last year, Anaheim was one of the first Orange County cities to join a federal lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging unconstitutional raids and stops.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

As the Contigo program nears its first anniversary, Lyster said the team has found its footing and \u201cwhere we are today, I truly do believe it is hard for an incident to happen without us hearing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not easy,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re constantly seeing things, you\u2019re addressing a gap. It has completely evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Immigration enforcement raids have slowed in Anaheim since January, but city leaders recently committed up to another $100,000…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,179,14,1071,23,611,136],"class_list":["post-267338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-community","tag-immigration","tag-local-government","tag-local-news","tag-orange-county","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}