The top federal prosecutor in Southern California is warning Santa Ana officials that a proposed policy requiring public notice of federal immigration enforcement operations could endanger officers, disrupt criminal investigations and expose city employees to prosecution.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli issued the warning in a letter sent Friday to Santa Ana City Attorney Sonia Carvalho, saying the proposal to publicize courtesy alerts from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “will not only hurt public safety, but it will also subject the city and its employees to potential criminal prosecution.”
The proposal, which Santa Ana councilmembers discussed at a May meeting and asked their staff for more information, would require the Police Department to post ICE notifications online within 48 hours of receiving them. The alerts envisioned by some councilmembers would include the time, location and nature of the enforcement activity, and be shared publicly in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Some councilmembers raised questions about the legality of the policy and whether it could expose the city to retaliation and asked for more staff analysis.
Essayli’s letter sparked backlash from Councilmember Jessie Lopez, who criticized both the message and the messenger.
“This is from a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney. This guy was literally handpicked by him,” Lopez said. “This is a chilling reminder of how this administration is using the Department of Justice to intimidate local governments that stand with immigrant communities.”
Essayli described the proposed policy as one that would tip off “child predators, fentanyl traffickers and human smugglers.”
But Lopez said that’s “a disgusting take on the spirit of the policy, which is to be transparent in what is happening in our neighborhoods.”
Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez, who co-authored the proposal, has also defended the policy as a transparency measure.
“What we are looking to propose is that the city should facilitate providing this information on a publicly available website,” he said at the recent council meeting.
But Essayli argued the measure could put lives at risk.
“Broadcasting information about ICE operations gives offenders the opportunity to destroy evidence, arm themselves and retaliate against officers and the public,” he wrote.
He added that ICE operations often target serious non-immigration crimes, including child exploitation, fentanyl trafficking and gang activity.
According to ICE figures cited in the letter, the agency made 15 courtesy notifications to Santa Ana police between January and April of this year. Essayli said the city “appears to conflate ICE with one of ICE’s components, enforcement and removal operations,” and warned that publishing these alerts would interfere with broader criminal enforcement work carried out by Homeland Security investigations.
Reporting from Ben Camacho, a local independent journalist who publishes Inadvertent on Substack, included results from public records requests indicating that ICE had sent 42 courtesy alerts to the Santa Ana Police Department between Jan. 20 and last month. The notifications were not shared with the public or councilmembers, raising concerns from some on the council about transparency in a city that has declared itself a sanctuary for immigrants.
Essayli raised the possibility that the proposed policy could violate federal law, specifically one that prohibits obstructing federal investigations, and warned that employees could face legal consequences.
“The risk of criminal prosecution for impeding federal investigations is real and my office will not hesitate to prosecute those who impede federal investigations to the full extent permitted by law,” he wrote.
Police Chief Robert Rodriguez had expressed concern with the proposal at a previous council meeting, saying, “This is a very complicated conversation. I have to ensure the safety of the community, of our officers and any other agency that comes and works in our city.”
“I will not break the law to enforce the law,” Rodriguez added.
Mayor Valerie Amezcua has also voiced hesitation about the proposal, suggesting city leaders should avoid drawing unwanted attention during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.
City staff are expected to return to the council with more answers about the policy in the coming weeks before it comes back for a vote.
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