{"id":46547,"date":"2025-11-10T14:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/46547\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T14:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:40:14","slug":"fullerton-officials-back-away-from-aiding-immigrants-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/46547\/","title":{"rendered":"Fullerton Officials Back Away From Aiding Immigrants For Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fullerton residents detained by federal immigration agents will not benefit from $100,000 worth of legal support or $100,000 for rent and grocery assistance like in other Orange County cities.<\/p>\n

At least for now.<\/p>\n

[Read: Immigrant Aid in Orange County Poised to Expand<\/a>]<\/p>\n

On the Prop. 50 election night, city council members voted 3-2 to table proposals for a $100,000 immigrant legal defense fund and a $100,000 rent and food assistance program amid budget concerns as officials are projected to face a $10 million deficit at the end of the decade.<\/p>\n

Councilman Nick Dunlap said the city can\u2019t afford to fund the aid programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got parts of our city where entire neighborhoods are without street lights. We\u2019ve got neighborhoods where the roads and streets are so bad that kids and adults can\u2019t ride their bikes and can\u2019t play without worrying about tripping or hurting their feet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dunlap also said people reached out to him and raised concerns that the aid programs were divisive because of their limited funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems extra divisive because if there were additional funds available, they should be going to serve our entire community and not a particular group of our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"A view of the SOCO District of Downtown Fullerton on Oct. 5, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

Council members Ahmad Zahra, who spearheaded the proposals, and Shana Charles were the dissenting votes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf fiscal responsibility is the goal then I think we should go and reconsider a lot of votes that we\u2019ve taken in the past,\u201d Zahra said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we should reconsider firing our city manager back a few years ago, that cost us to pay two city managers at the same time because we had a nine months severance package.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charles called the widespread deportation sweeps a public health emergency and said federal immigration agencies are disregarding the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S, Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you find it within your heart to have compassion for our neighbors who are experiencing terrifying persecution because of their skin color or spoken language. This is how we show that our city stands up for human rights and the U.S. Constitution,\u201d she said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

Charles said she worries about her own family including her children who are Guatemalan American.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be worried that my kids would say to me, \u2018Mom, I\u2019m now ashamed of what you did\u2019 if I said to them, yeah, we have $30 million in the bank, and we\u2019re just going to leave $200,000 of it sitting there instead of doing something real that could help real families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis $200,000 is not going to break us, but it could absolutely do some real good right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s aid fund rejection comes as immigrant advocates warn that the roving deportation sweeps that kicked off in June are ramping up again<\/a> as food bank leaders warn of a sharp increase in hunger<\/a> amid the longest government shutdown in history.<\/p>\n

According to the USC Equity Research Institute, about 16% of Fullerton residents are undocumented or live with an undocumented family member in a city of roughly 137,000 people.<\/p>\n

Fullerton\u2019s Financial Woes<\/p>\n

\"\"A view down N. Harbor Blvd. towards Downtown Fullerton on Oct. 5, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

Funding for both programs would have come from the roughly $27 million left in the city\u2019s general fund reserve after officials allocated roughly $3.8 million from that pot of money to balance their budget earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Fullerton is also facing a projected $9.3 million deficit next fiscal year that, if left unchecked, could go up to $10 million by the end of the decade, according to the city budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Jamie Valencia, who had previously voted to bring back proposals on the immigration aid funds, did not directly speak to why she voted against the proposals this time but asked a couple of questions on the budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have such a huge deficit that we need for critical infrastructure for our city. That\u2019s what cities focus on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we brought this two weeks ago to council, my main concern was that I would love city staff to come back to the table and explain, does our city and can our city financially support without getting away from our critical infrastructure bank and to keep our city going?\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed amount for the programs \u2013 $200,000 \u2013 is less than 1% of the city\u2019s reserves.<\/p>\n

Like Valencia, Mayor Fred Jung didn\u2019t speak to his vote directly, but asked about the budget.<\/p>\n

Zahra said the programs were about helping residents in need and the amount wouldn\u2019t break the bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not going to impact us. We can weather this. It\u2019s a small amount of money,<\/p>\n

and these are what reserve funds are for,\u201d Zahra said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles said the city is expected to discuss two separate proposed sales tax increase measures before next year\u2019s November election that could bring in $15 million for infrastructure like road repairs and $15 million for public safety.<\/p>\n

Sounding Off on Immigration Aid Funds in Fullerton<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cNo Kings\u201d rally at Centennial Park in Santa Ana, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Protestors advocated for immigrant rights amid the Trump presidency. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

Dozens of people came out to speak in favor of the aid funds in Fullerton Tuesday, arguing officials need to step up to protect and support local immigrant families during a time when they are struggling and fear their loved ones being deported.<\/p>\n

A majority of Fullerton School Board members, including Vanessa Estrella, Miguel Alvarez and Ruthi Hancett, were among the speakers in favor of the proposals arguing that it was necessary to keep families together.<\/p>\n

\u201cFullerton School District has already lost some of our students when their parents were deported suddenly,\u201d Hancett said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOther families are living in constant fear and have restricted their movements because of the risk of being deported, not because they\u2019re criminals, but because of the illegal ways that immigration is being enforced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the speakers wore t-shirts with monarch butterflies \u2013 a longtime symbol of immigration for the insect\u2019s migration pattern<\/a> between Mexico and the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others wore white.<\/p>\n

Aliya Yousufi, senior policy and advocacy manager at the Council on Islamic-American Relations in Anaheim, said the legal aid fund is necessary because immigrants aren\u2019t always guaranteed a public defender.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout access to legal representation, many residents, including those who worship, work and study right here in Fullerton, are forced to face the system alone,\u201d she said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cA legal defense fund would ensure that every Fullerton resident, regardless of status, has fair representation and a chance to stay with their family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cNo Kings\u201d rally at Centennial Park in Santa Ana, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Protestors advocated for immigrant rights amid the Trump presidency. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

Some of the speakers spoke directly to Councilwoman Valencia saying she represented a predominantly Latino district and urged her to support local families.<\/p>\n

Tanya Leon, a resident and program manager with the OC Justice Fund, said without city support Fullerton residents in detention will have no place to turn for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t see what the point of fixing critical infrastructure is if Fullertonians are no longer here to use it,\u201d Leon said. \u201cOur residents are district four residents. They are being removed. It makes no difference to me if my streets are better, if my neighbors can\u2019t use them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two people on Zoom spoke out against the proposals, arguing private nonprofits should be the ones supporting immigrants, not the taxpayers.<\/p>\n

Jack Dean, a Fullerton resident who served on the city\u2019s fiscal sustainability committee, said the city doesn\u2019t have the money and taxpayers shouldn\u2019t fund a partisan cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would urge you to work with existing organizations to assist undocumented immigrants begin collecting donations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you truly believe in this cause, all of you in attendance tonight should be among the first to contribute. Let\u2019s use city funds on services and projects that are needed here and that benefit all city taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another speaker on Zoom who identified himself solely as Tony agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the job of the government to help people with legal aid,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m willing to help them. I mean, everybody that was here tonight, if they all pitched in, we\u2019d probably have $200,000. We don\u2019t need the government to help community members.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200b\u200bHosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fullerton residents detained by federal immigration agents will not benefit from $100,000 worth of legal support or $100,000…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[7443,163,165,164,2885,30565,30566,14273,14274,7442,2267],"class_list":["post-46547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-ahmad-zahra","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-fred-jung","tag-jamie-valencia","tag-nick-dunlap","tag-orange-county-ice-raids","tag-orange-county-immigration","tag-shana-charles","tag-voice-of-oc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46547","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=46547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}