![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761845529_7_GARDEN-GROVE-CC-LEOPO-2025-5962.jpg\")
From left, Garden Grove City Council Members Yesenia Mu\u00f1eton and Ariana Arestegui listen to a public speaker during the July 8, 2025 meeting. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\nGarden Grove became a flashpoint this week in Orange County\u2019s ongoing immigration debate \u2013 raising concerns that city council members could be prosecuted for aiding undocumented immigrants by posting a resource page, along with who\u2019s to blame for the ICE raids.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It kicked off during a debate about whether or not city council members should direct staff to post a resource page for residents impacted by the deportation sweeps \u2013 a proposal that a majority of elected officials eventually voted to bring back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a preventative measure to make sure many of our residents are prepared and make sure they know what their rights are,\u201d Councilwoman Arianna Arestegui said at Tuesday\u2019s council meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arestegui, who spearheaded the proposal, said the whole community needs to know their civil rights because it\u2019s not just undocumented residents being impacted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of these provisions are things that are being enacted by other cities in our region that are major stakeholders in this issue as well and Garden Grove is the third largest Hispanic community in Orange County,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From left, Garden Grove City Council Members Yesenia Mu\u00f1eton and Ariana Arestegui listen to a public speaker during the July 8, 2025 meeting. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n
It comes amid rising concerns from immigration advocates that roving deportation raids could be coming back to Orange County.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[Read: Are Large ICE Raids Coming Back to Orange County?<\/a>]<\/p>\n Councilman George Brietigam warned such Arestegui\u2019s proposal could put he and his colleagues on the Department of Justice\u2019s radar \u2013 even landing them in jail \u2013 and cited a letter from Assistant U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> sent earlier this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis was written last week to Newsom and every city got a copy of it. The Department of Justice will investigate and prosecute any state and local official who violates these federal statutes or directs or conspires with others to violate them,\u201d Brietigam said.<\/p>\n Council members ultimately voted 5-1-1 to direct city staff to come back with an amended resolution that would provide a resource landing page on the city\u2019s website. Brietigam voted no and Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein abstained.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scores of concerns were raised by Brietigam and others \u2013 including who\u2019s being targeted in the deportation raids and what the potential consequences are if city officials roll out a resource page.\u00a0<\/p>\n Could a Resource Page Mean Prison Time?\u00a0<\/p>\n While Brietigam said Arestegui\u2019s proposal has good intentions, he warned it could have serious consequences.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re opening ourselves up for a lot of issues. I don\u2019t want to go to prison,\u201d said Brietigam, a former officer with the LAPD. \u201cI just can\u2019t get behind this in any kind of way. Does that mean I\u2019m anti-immigrant? No, I am the most pro-immigrant person in this dias. I am the most adamant anti-illegal immigrant and that is a fact.\u201d<\/p>\n He also criticized people who haven\u2019t gone through the naturalization process.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSome of these folks have been here 20, 30 years and they haven\u2019t even done anything to go through the process to put their hand up and swear allegiance. Nothing. I\u2019m sorry but I don\u2019t have any sympathy for that kind of behavior,\u201d Brietigam said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Arestegui said Brietigam was playing to his voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate you saying that with your full chest which means you stood by your beliefs and I do earnestly and genuinely think that George is trying to express his beliefs and the beliefs of his constituents,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n She also said her proposal\u2019s not too different from other cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just happening in Garden Grove, it\u2019s in Santa Ana, it\u2019s in Anaheim,\u201d Arestegui said. \u201cOther cities have kind of been beating us to the punch on this issue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Councilwoman Yesenia Muneton said the council should support the Garden Grove Unified School District<\/a>, which has rolled out a resource page and helped other relief efforts for families impacted by the deportation sweeps.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to stand in solidarity with our school district, with our nonprofits that are already working hard every single day to provide these resources,\u201d Muneton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n She later said the move is \u201cin solidarity of families that have grown over 30 years \u2013 including myself \u2013 that we want to provide resources \u2026 in solidarity with our diverse community, where my generation comes from, where Ariannia\u2019s generation comes from.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Brietigam warned President Donald Trump\u2019s administration is serious about the warning letter.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou are technically aiding and abetting in that process and if we\u2019re going down that road. If you don\u2019t think the Trump administration is going to come down on you, you\u2019re full of yourself because they will. You\u2019re looking at fines and prison \u2013 and it\u2019s federal time,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brietigam told his colleagues to not expect the Department of Justice to change its approach anytime soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou think his DOJ\u2019s messing around? I think it\u2019s going to go much longer than that. I mean we\u2019re looking probably at least 11, 12 years because after Trump \u2013 let\u2019s face it, what\u2019s going on in this country, no one\u2019s going to vote for another Democrat president for the next 20 years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Councilman Joe DoVinh, who offered a series of language amendments on the proposal, pushed back against Brietigam\u2019s claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing here that mentioned we\u2019re aiding and abetting illegals. And it is a very serious concern and i know it\u2019s a risk,\u201d DoVinh said, adding that the city attorney will review the proposal before he and his colleagues vote on it again.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf I feel the risk is too much, I will vote against it. But I do want to bring it back for a vote,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Citing legal liability and funding cut concerns, DoVinh took issue with certain aspects of the resolution \u2013 like a section that stated the city doesn\u2019t have legal authority to assist in immigration enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018That\u2019s for the state government and the federal government to duke it out in court,\u201d DoVinh said.<\/p>\n At the end of Tuesday\u2019s meeting, DoVinh said he doesn\u2019t support ICE in Garden Grove.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want ICE in my city, no! You heard that loud and clear!\u201d DoVinh exclaimed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier, Mayor Klopfenstein raised concerns the proposal could lead to federal funding cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIs it moving the needle, is it stopping ICE enforcement in those communities or is it perhaps putting a greater target, perhaps risking a deeper level involvement from the federal government?\u201d Klopfenstein said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, the mayor urged her colleagues to use their offices and resources to help residents in their respective districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to have to look somebody in the face and say your rental assistance has been taken from you,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Councilwoman Cindy Ngoc Tran, who earlier voted with Brietigam and Klopfenstein on a failed motion to nix the resource page proposal, cast doubt on the effectiveness of such a move.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of different nonprofit groups here that their mission is to do things like that,\u201d said Tran, who ultimately voted to bring back the revised proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Councilman Phillip Tran said the move is needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt should be a priority to the Garden Grove city council. Keep in mind this resolution does not provide any kind of protection for the residents from ICE,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to follow the federal law whether we like it or not, so we can\u2019t protect you. But I like this revised resolution because it will provide information.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Who\u2019s Being Targeted?\u00a0<\/p>\n Arestegui said she\u2019s been hearing from numerous residents that the immigration raids have been impacting US citizens and people with no criminal records.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t made up stuff that\u2019s kind of coming out of nowhere. Folks are approaching us with their anecdotes, with their experiences,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is an issue that has reached the point where it\u2019s been affecting our legal residents that have no criminal records as well as our citizens.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Local immigration advocates and legal observers also say that citizens have been detained by federal immigration officers.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an Oct. 23 phone interview, Jody Vallejo \u2013 a USC professor who specializes in immigration \u2013 said federal officials are unconstitutionally racially profiling people.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does an undocumented person look like? There are no outward indicators. You have then this very militarized police force that is essentially going rogue in our communities and it is like nothing like we have never seen,\u201d said Vallejo, who also volunteers with the OC Rapid Response network.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always been raids, there\u2019s always been workplace raids,\u201d she added. \u201cBut the current scale and the tactics are very different.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n During Tuesday\u2019s meeting, Bretigam blamed California\u2019s sanctuary law that limits police cooperation with ICE for the current iteration of immigration raids.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe sanctuary state laws made it so ICE has to go out in the community and chase people down. And it looks terrible, it scares people. It scares kids. This is what the state created,\u201d Brietigam said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He also said federal officials are going after criminals.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t realize they\u2019re going after targeted criminal aliens,\u201d Brietigam said. \u201cThat\u2019s their main focus, the rapists, the murders, the robbers. That\u2019s what ICE is looking for. The border patrol, they\u2019re the ones that come through and do the random grabs that everybody\u2019s talking about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He also said if people complied with federal officials, the situation would be more peaceful and dismissed concerns that citizens are being caught up in the sweeps.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou know who else does that? The police, and the FBI \u2026 detention is a part of all law enforcement,\u201d Brietigam said. \u201cIf they have enough evidence they\u2019re going to take you to jail, that\u2019s the way it works. American citizens get detained every day.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In a phone interview last week, Bethany Anderson, head of the nonprofit Camino Immigration Services, said two citizens were detained and released at a Euclid Car Wash raid in Anaheim earlier this month \u2013 where she was serving as a legal observer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOfficers were coming from literally every direction \u2013 like a siege. It was very surreal, like a movie \u2013 a military operation,\u201d she said, adding that nobody got arrested.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to federal detention data as of Sept. 15 \u2013 the latest available as of Wednesday \u2013 there were 3,801 people detained in ICE facilities throughout California.\u00a0<\/p>\n An overwhelming majority were classified as \u201cno ICE threat\u201d \u2013 85% of detainees, or 3,242 people.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Just 15% were considered a threat \u2013 559 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anderson said federal revisions to immigration policy are making people into undocumented immigrants.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not criminals, it\u2019s the most vulnerable of the immigrant population that are being made undocumented. Immigration has their information because they\u2019re applying, they\u2019re trying to do it the right way and they\u2019re being targeted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0@SpencerCustodio<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Federalcourthouse_March2025_SidhuSentencing_2.jpg\")
Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse on March 28, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GARDEN-GROVE-CC-LEOPO-2025-5944.jpg\")
Garden Grove City Councilman George Brietigam on July 8, 2025. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Taylor_HomeDepotGardenGrove_June112025-2.jpg\")
A day laborer sits in a lawn chair outside a Home Depot in Orange County waiting to be approached with work. He has resided in the U.S. for 28 years. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n