Anaheim votes to create legal aid hotline for families after ICE detention

Anaheim's city council voted unanimously Tuesday to launch a $100,000 immigration legal aid program that would connect ICE detainees with attorneys within 24 hours, Voice of OC reported.

The action fills a gap in Anaheim's immigrant support network — neighboring cities Costa Mesa and Santa Ana already operate comparable legal assistance programs — as ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents have conducted enforcement sweeps across Southern California for roughly eight months.

Acting City Manager Greg Garcia said the program is designed for "providing immediate access to legal consultation" and would ensure detained individuals can "connect with a staff attorney," according to Voice of OC. The city manager holds authority to sign the agreement with a qualifying nonprofit without requiring a full council vote.

Councilman Carlos Leon, who championed the measure, described the first hours after a detention as decisive. "Those first 24 to 72 hours can be everything. That's when the decisions get made that shape everything that happens after that," Leon said. He drew on a call he received from a local family to illustrate the stakes: "It's early morning, a father leaves for work – a person that's holding everything together for their family. And they don't come home. Now this family's trying to figure out what to do next. The kids still need to eat, the bills are still due."

Leon said his inability in that moment to connect the caller with qualified legal counsel underscored the need for the program. "That family is real – I know because I took that call. I also knew that in that moment I wasn't going to be able to refer her to someone with the legal expertise … that's a gap that I hope we're able to close tonight," he said.

Anaheim city spokesman Mike Lyster told council members that city outreach workers have found affected families consistently at a loss. "Most families we approach, they have a shell-shocked look. They have no idea what to do," Lyster said. He described the period immediately after a detention as one when "families are frankly struggling to figure out what has happened, where their loved one is and what to do next."

Mayor Ashleigh Aitken and Councilwomen Norma Campos Kurtz, Natalie Meeks and Natalie Rubalcava each expressed support. Aitken said "having somebody under contract that we can direct people to to get the truth … is really important." Councilwoman Kurtz added: "I wouldn't know where to go. I can only imagine what our residents are feeling – the fear they have of not knowing what to do."

The program will also include an educational component aimed at protecting immigrants from unqualified legal practitioners. "I think educating them on who to trust, what a scam looks like – would be essential," Councilwoman Rubalcava said. Councilwoman Meeks said she hoped to help residents avoid "being exploited by people who are trying to profit from this situation" and steer them "to the right people to help them with their legal process longterm."

Anaheim's vote brings the city alongside Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, which already run similar programs, in offering publicly supported immigration legal services within Orange County, Voice of OC reported. Because the city manager can execute the agreement independently, the program can proceed without an additional council vote.