Brian Lee-Mounger Hendershot is the managing editor for Western City magazine; he can be reached at bhendershot@calcities.org. Caleb Zimmerschied Valadez is a freelance writer. He can be reached at calzimval@gmail.com.

---

For a broad swathe of local leaders in California — and voters — the large-scale immigration enforcement actions that dominated California this summer are a decidedly nonpartisan issue.  

“If people are trying to make something political out of this, then that’s entirely wrong,” said Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri. “There are people suffering here, and we need to be taking care of our people as best we can. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re Democrat or Republican or [Independent] — that’s what we do.”

A sudden shift in enforcement tactics

California has long worked with federal officials on immigration enforcement. What has changed in recent months is how immigration enforcement is done, said John Schwab, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, which is representing 20 California cities in a lawsuit against the federal government. According to him, federal agents are going after people based on their “apparent ethnicity,” instead of relying on evidence like forged documents to build cases.

“They are choosing locations where immigration officials believe that there may be people who are not in the country legally and picking people who are suspected of being in the country illegally,” he said. “[This] is completely different from the last 70ish years of immigration enforcement.”

Less than 40% of the state identifies as white. “Essentially, you’re saying that it is reasonable to suspect that more than half the people living in Los Angeles are criminals,” Schwab said. “That can’t be right, right?”

For cities in Southern California, the effects of the shift were quick: a spike in mistrust, undermining gains made by police; lost revenue amid new budget constraints; and a prolonged sense of confusion about what comes next. But people throughout the state felt impacts too.

“Our goal is to be ready and responsive,” said Cristine Alilovich, the city manager for San Rafael, east of San Francisco. “We’ve heard stories of expectant mothers who are too afraid to go to the doctor, or parents who hesitate to seek basic services. It’s heartbreaking and traumatic for many residents — and it brings back painful memories of the 2008 mass raid that deeply affected this community.”

City officials have also been frustrated by the logistics of the sweeps: Federal agents often conduct them without warning, putting everyone, including local law enforcement, in danger. For the people caught up in these sweeps, the costs are even higher. Jose R. Rodriguez, president of the nonprofit El Concilio, works with immigrants and their families in the Central Valley. For him, these actions are the latest in a long line of policy choices that make people afraid to get medical care or go to school.

“We’re trying to tell people you can’t live in fear, ‘You can’t hide in your home. You can’t stop sending your kids to school. You have to try and lead a normal life,’” he said. “But it’s really hard to say that to them.” 

Anger, frustration, and confusion

Local officials and experts say that conducting “raids” with armed, masked, and unidentifiable agents without warning puts people at unnecessary risk. “Prior to this, if someone called and said, ‘Hey, there’s a bunch of masked men with guns,’ then the SWAT team would roll out and they would expect a really serious issue,” Schwab said. And now they just don’t know what to expect. It could be federal officers or real criminals.”

In some cases, people have pretended to be federal agents to carry out robberies or harass residents. While cities can crack down on those actions, there is little they can do to stop immigration enforcement. Bell Gardens Council Member Jorgel Chavez found himself walking a fine line between warning the majority-Latino community and avoiding a federal charge. Ultimately, the city put out social media alerts that did not explicitly state where the sweeps were happening. (Critics argue the alerts can put federal agents in danger.)

“I’m not just going to stand there and see my residents get kidnapped,” Chavez said. “It’s a matter of responding to the issue in that moment.”

City officials have also expressed concern about how federal buildings are being repurposed. The Department of Homeland Security maintains facilities throughout California, including in Paramount. In the past, Mayor Peggy Lemons says agents apparently used the facility for equipment storage and port enforcement. But today the facility’s use is unclear because the Department of Homeland Security does not regularly coordinate with the city of Paramount.

The federal government is not obligated to share operational details with cities. And since the facility is on private land, the city can’t stop such a conversion. However, cities do have options if the federal government leases the building from the city. Additionally, city officials often have no idea where residents, including citizens, are sent. (Bell Gardens even filed a FOIA request to learn how many people have been taken from the city, by whom, and under what authority.)

Actions like this don’t just frustrate local leaders — they confuse residents. “I think residents have a really hard time believing they’re two separate things [the local and federal government],” said Lemons.

Whittier’s Vinatieri agrees. His sense is that people need someone to talk to — and local government is it. “At the end of the day, there’s nothing that we can do at the local government level relative to all the politics,” he said. “I can’t call the President and say, ‘Please stop. This is hurting us.’”

Cities respond to the erosion of public trust

Mike Lyster, Anaheim’s chief communications officer, said that this past summer reversed years of work to build public trust. He noted that people often assume police are working with federal agents. During earlier protests, local officers arrived in large SUVs or vans — vehicles that people associate with federal immigration enforcement. Confusions like this make it difficult for residents to separate local and federal agencies and to believe local police officers are there to protect residents and property.

A report by the Los Angeles Times supports Lyster’s worries: As immigration enforcement ramped up, calls for service to LAPD plummeted.

Like many cities, Anaheim is working overtime to educate people about the state’s “sanctuary law” and address rumors and misinformation about immigration enforcement activities. (The law is meant to ensure that immigrants can report crimes without fear of deportation, establish clear lines between agencies, and free up limited local resources.) The city uses a nine-page document to educate people about various law enforcement uniforms, duties, and the risks people may face in different locations. It is part of an extensive suite of updates, FAQs, fact sheets, and assistance programs.

“I use the analogy that the fear level is at a 12 out of 10 … because there’s a lot of confusion and misinformation as well as very real activity,” Lyster said. “What we are as a city are trying to do is bring it down from that very high, irrational level down to what I call an eight.”

A $275 billion impact

The enforcement actions also chilled local economies. For Anaheim, this summer marked the biggest disruption to the city’s economy since the pandemic — a comparison Lyster didn’t make lightly. Businesses throughout the region are struggling because people are afraid to go out for basic necessities. Bell Gardens and other cities even postponed major events.

Lemons from nearby Paramount reported a similar trend. A business roundtable and survey found that revenues and foot traffic decreased in the city by at least 50% over the summer. She thinks this will result in an enormous hit to the city, which prides itself on having a healthy budget surplus.

“We live and die by sales tax,” she said.

The Bay Area Council Economic Institute warned that deportations could cost California $275 billion, with agriculture and construction facing the steepest disruptions.

Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo

The reality for cities is that there are no universal guidelines for what to do during immigration enforcement. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t best practices. Lisa Sharkey and Rubin Cruse with Renne Public Law Group pointed to guidance and model policies from the California Attorney General that cities can use as a framework. The firm has helped clients author and implement several such policies so that they are well prepared and informed for immigration enforcement actions. 

Sharkey and Cruse also noted that some local agencies may be reluctant to establish formal policies, believing that they may jeopardize the receipt of federal funding — a very legitimate concern. Renne Public Law Group is representing nearly 20 government agencies in two separate lawsuits against the federal government, challenging the denial of federal grant monies based on, among other things, the agencies’ perceived lack of support for immigration enforcement.  

(HansonBridgett also provides advice for employers, and the Public Rights Project is representing many local governments in litigation over the new grant conditions.)

What’s frustratingly less clear is how effective those policies will prove to be. Many cities have chosen to limit access to non-public areas. But in those cases, federal agents can wait to make arrests outside. And intervening  can result in an arrest or charge. Moreover, each incident is case-specific — what is okay in one instance may not be in another. 

And what is legally permissible may change in the coming months. In August, the U.S. Supreme Court made it easier for federal agents to stop someone based on their ethnicity while a related case works its way through the lower courts.

“Apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion; under this Court’s case law regarding immigration stops, however, it can be a ‘relevant factor’ when considered with other salient factors,” wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh in a concurring opinion.

The federal government has also floated invoking the Insurrection Act, withholding federal funding, or buying more buildings to achieve its goals. 

For Chavez and other officials, the solution is clear: “Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo.” Only the people can save the people. Although cities may have limited ways to respond to immigration sweeps, many have chosen to provide care to impacted families — like food, legal aid, housing assistance, and health services — often through trusted nonprofits. In the case of Bell Gardens, over 70 families requested assistance in the first 24 hours.

According to Rodriguez, who leads the nonprofit El Concilio, these resources, along with efforts to restore trust in local law enforcement, are critical. Even the threat of sweeps in the Central Valley exacerbated already existing issues like food insecurity and childhood education, which will have long-term effects.

Like Rodriguez, Riverbank Mayor Rachel Hernandez saw what happened in Southern California and began preparing. “In areas like ours, there’s a lot more fear and people hiding,” she said. “We probably would not have seen the uproar.”

Riverbank, a small community just outside Modesto, is working with the local sheriff’s office and internally to stay abreast of enforcement actions. In her personal capacity, Hernandez works with community-based organizations and leaders to build trust, dispel misinformation, and make sure people know their rights.

Experts warn, however, that Know-Your-Rights seminars and cards only go so far. Even if people know their rights, they may not feel comfortable speaking up — especially if a masked individual in civilian clothes is suddenly wielding a gun or yelling.

San Rafael has started bringing together nonprofits, schools, and other government agencies to support the community. City staff are working on crisis communications plans to support families in designating an alternative caregiver and ensuring that local, culturally competent foster families are available in case parents are deported. (A bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom aims to improve that process.)

“Here is the irony: We have a community center that is a safe space for communities,” said San Rafael’s Alilovich. “But that safe space could become a target for ICE, which would be devastating to the trust we’ve built with the community.”

“That’s the worst part about it,” Rodriguez said. “It’s right in front of our faces, and there’s very little that we could do because people are apprehensive of the repercussions.”

For Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri and others, this is yet another chapter in a decades-long failure to pass bipartisan immigration reform — and a reminder of why such change is needed. Several officials interviewed for the story have someone in their family who immigrated to the U.S. And while many hope that life will return to normal — in months, if not years — they often struck a dour note.

“The other side of that is this is purely a civil rights issue,” Lemons said. “Because what’s that old saying? ‘Yesterday they came for you; tomorrow they’ll come for me?’”