Santa Ana moves to ban police from moonlighting as ICE agents

Santa Ana's City Council voted Tuesday to direct staff to draft an ordinance that would prohibit police officers from taking side jobs or volunteering with immigration enforcement agencies, including ICE, formalizing the city's status as Orange County's only sanctuary city in municipal code.

The action comes nearly a year after ICE deportation sweeps intensified across Orange County, triggering protests in Santa Ana and sustained pressure on city leaders to translate sanctuary city policy into binding law. A companion resolution supporting AB 1537 — a statewide "No Side Jobs For ICE Act" — was also directed to staff for drafting.

Mayor Valerie Amezcua said the ordinance would use the city's charter city authority to close an existing policy gap. "As a charter city, we want to exercise the maximum ability that a charter city allows and codify language in the Santa Ana municipal code that protects residents and ensures that police officers are not employed in immigration enforcement," Amezcua said, according to Voice of OC.

Police Chief Robert Rodriguez told Voice of OC the department does not currently approve officer requests for immigration enforcement-related secondary employment, but the existing policy contains no explicit prohibition. The proposed ordinance would embed that ban directly in the municipal code, with enforcement mechanisms including discipline, termination and civil penalties.

Councilwoman Jessie Lopez, who is running for state assembly, pushed for robust enforcement language. "We can pass a lot of laws, but if we don't have teeth in our laws, they are not as impactful," Lopez said.

Councilman Ben Vazquez voiced support for the companion AB 1537 resolution, warning of active federal recruitment efforts targeting local officers. "Public agencies should not serve as a pipeline to a career in family separation," Vazquez said. "We know ICE is desperate to recruit more deportation agents — it's even launched ads trying to recruit local and state law enforcement officers to join its ranks."

Councilman Phil Bacerra said the measure would protect the department's integrity. "We do not need ill-trained individuals thinking that the Santa Ana Police Department is even a remote option," Bacerra said.

Councilman Johnathan Hernandez requested that the ban extend beyond sworn officers to cover all city employees, arguing the principle applied equally across city hall. "It would be a dichotomy for people to work in Santa Ana, but also have the desire to work for ICE at the same time," Hernandez said. "That would be a contradiction to our very community."

City staff are expected to return with a draft ordinance at a future council meeting. If passed, the measure would make Santa Ana one of the first California cities to explicitly codify a ban on law enforcement secondary employment in immigration enforcement through municipal code.