Orange County’s immigrant community has grappled with ongoing federal deportation efforts this year – ICE raids which have targeted day laborers, car wash workers and people checking into immigration court.
The county’s seen numerous deportation operations kick off throughout the region since June, raising a host of concerns from some residents, local officials, state legislators and congressional representatives.
A series of protests kicked off shortly after the raids began in June, with protestors railing against ICE sweeps in downtown Santa Ana, near the federal buildings.
The California National Guard stations outside the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Santa Ana on June 10, 2025. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
Not long after that, the National Guard came to town and were posted by federal buildings in Santa Ana, including the Ronald Reagan federal courthouse.
[Read: Orange County Grapples With Federal Occupation]
The raids have also spurred the cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana to roll out immigrant aid funds for people impacted by ICE raids – helping with things like legal representation and rent payments.
Some local elected officials throughout OC warned that creating such immigrant aid programs could jeopardize critical federal funding for things like housing assistance.
Other city council members called on their local police departments to work with ICE, with the Huntington Beach City Council voting to disregard state law and direct officers to assist in deportation efforts.
[Read: Huntington Beach Disregards California’s Sanctuary Laws, Directs Police to Work With ICE]
While the roving deportation tactics were temporarily put on hold by a federal judge, a majority of U.S. Supreme Court Justices ultimately blocked that restraining order as the lawsuit plays out in lower court.
[Read: Could Widespread ICE Raids Come Back to Orange County?]
Who Got Caught Up in ICE Sweeps?
A day laborer sits in a lawn chair outside a Home Depot in Orange County waiting to be approached with work. He has resided in the U.S. for 28 years. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC
Beginning in early June, federal agents began detaining people throughout the county – from courthouses to Home Depots.
[Read: Orange County Braces For ICE]
“We all I guess were under the impression that the presence of ICE was going to be to target dangerous, violent criminals. But what we’re seeing, and what I woke up to yesterday, were day laborers looking for work that were being detained, tackled with excessive force by Homeland Security officers and ICE,” Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said at a June 10 county supervisors’ meeting.
The deportation efforts also reached neighborhoods, like in Santa Ana and Irvine.
Shortly after the raids kicked off, Congressman Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) criticized federal agents for not going after criminals.
“From what I saw, I don’t believe those are serious violent criminals,” Correa said at a June news conference . “I saw a couple individuals that looked like they got pulled off a job painting somewhere.”
“Why did you pick up working individuals? They’re not violent serious criminals to my knowledge,” he said.
In the coming months, immigrant advocates and volunteers have told Voice of OC that federal officials restructured immigration policies, turning once documented immigrants into undocumented immigrants.
A federal agent speaks to family members following an arrest at the Santa Ana Immigration Court on May 28, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC
“It’s not criminals, it’s the most vulnerable of the immigrant population that are being made undocumented. Immigration has their information because they’re applying, they’re trying to do it the right way and they’re being targeted,” said volunteer and a federally accredited immigration legal representative, Bethany Anderson, in a late October interview.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security repeatedly told Voice of OC throughout the year that agents have done their due diligence and have conducted “highly targeted” deportation enforcement.
According to data from the Department of Homeland Security, a large majority of the over 5,700 people in ICE detention facilities throughout California are considered “no ICE threat.”
As of Nov. 28 – the latest available data – 67% of the people in ICE facilities are “no ICE threat” while 33% are considered ICE threats.
Narciso Barranco holds on to his chest while holding back tears during the July 25, 2025 press conference at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
One Orange County case made national news after federal agents violently arrested Narciso Barranco, a 48-year-old Tustin landscaper who’s a father of three U.S. Marines.
It kicked off a series of protests, vigils and calls for immigrant aid programs.
[Read: Tustin Landscaper Violently Arrested in Deportation Sweeps Says Hope Lives]
Barranco, who was arrested in Santa Ana in June, has since been released and is working his way through the immigration system.
Alejandro Barranco, son of Narciso Barranco. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
His son, Marine veteran Alejandro Barranco, testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration in July.
“My father is a human being but was not treated with the dignity he deserves. He has always made sure to do his best in giving back and supporting this country like we all do. That is who he is – that is who this country punched, threw in detention and is trying to deport,” Alejandro Barranco told the committee.
“I am here today because I want other people who have had family members like my dad taken away to know they’re not alone. Thousands of families like ours are being ripped apart and their stories matter. I want this committee to understand the human impact of the immigration policies
A Wave of Protests
Demonstrators during protests against expanded deportations efforts in Santa Ana and Orange County on June 9, 2025. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
A wave of protests began June 9 – the same day deportation sweeps kicked off – in Downtown Santa Ana, the heart of Orange County.
In the coming days, thousands of demonstrators railed against ICE raids and called on elected officials to take stands against the operations.
But concerns immediately began surfacing on how local police departments responded to the protests, namely in Santa Ana.
It spurred Santa Ana City Councilman Johnathan Hernandez to ask for a public accounting of how police officers responded, including information like what types of non-lethal rounds were used and how many times such tactics were deployed.
Santa Ana City Councilman Johnathan Hernandez protests against the ICE raids. June 9, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC
The protestors also focused on Mayor Valerie Amezcua, who was largely silent on the ICE raids in June.
[Read: Santa Ana’s Response to ICE Protests Prompt Questions for Police & Mayor]
At a June city council meeting, numerous residents sounded off at the public podium – criticizing the city’s response to the raids.
[Read: Santa Ana Residents Demand Mayor Resign, Citing Weak Response to ICE Raids, Protests]
During a November police oversight commission meeting, Santa Ana Police Department officials said the response was textbook and that officers targeted bad actors among the protestors.
Yet many who were at those protests, like Hernandez, dispute that characterization of events.
Vanessa Estrella, Fullerton Elementary school trustee at the No Kings protest in Anaheim on June 14, 2025. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
There were also large-scale demonstrations in Anaheim and Santa Ana – as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protests – where a diverse group of residents voiced numerous concerns against federal policies, especially the ICE raids.
In June, thousands of people gathered at Anaheim’s La Palma Park for the “No Kings” protest.
[Read: Orange County Hits the Streets, Rails Against ICE Sweeps]
And in October, thousands gathered in Santa Ana’s Centennial Park to rail against deportation sweeps and other federal policies, like cuts to food stamps.
[Read: Thousands of People Rail Against ICE Raids, Other Federal Policies in Orange County]
ICE Sweeps Spur Immigrant Aid
Assemblyman Avelino Valencia, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva at a roundtable discussion about immigration in Santa Ana on Aug. 13, 2025. Credit: HOSAM ELATTAR / Voice of OC
The raids spurred a roundtable of state legislators and community organization leaders over the summer, when Assemblymembers Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) and Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) detailed how much the raids were impacting Orange County’s local economy.
[Read: Orange County Feels Economic Fallout of ICE Raids]
The community organizations also told the state legislators they needed resources from the state so they could continue helping people impacted by the deportation sweeps.
Recently, Valencia announced state legislators carved out a $1.5 million state grant to Catholic Charities OC in an effort to get more legal resources for the immigrant community and help people become legal residents and citizens.
[Read: More OC Immigrants Could Get Citizenship, Visas Under $1.5 Million State Grant]
In the meantime, the cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana created immigrant aid funds for their residents – helping people with things like groceries, rent and legal assistance at a time when many are too frightened to go to work or the grocery store.
[Read: Immigration Legal Aid Funds Grow in Orange County]
Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento speaks during the vigil held for Narciso Barranco and others who have been detained by federal agents. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
OC Supervisor Sarmiento and various community organizations also helped establish a $1.5 million fund aimed at helping people through the immigration legal system.
Like Correa, Sarmiento said that President Donald Trump’s administration hasn’t been targeting criminals like what federal officials promised early in the year.
“You have now Homeland Security, Border Patrol and ICE officers staged at some of the immigration courts throughout Southern California and here in Santa Ana, which I’ve personally seen, that are ready to detain immediately after a summary dismissal,” Sarmiento said in a September phone interview.
A Flashpoint in Garden Grove
A demonstration outside of the Garden Grove Home Depot on Aug. 19, 2025. Day laborers were detained at the location over the weekend. Credit: SPENCER CUSTODIO, Voice of OC
Orange County saw one of the most thorough debates on the deportation sweeps at a Garden Grove City Council meeting in October as officials there considered a resource webpage for residents – a portion of the city website that directs people to things like legal aid and other resources.
During the Oct. 28 council meeting, Councilwoman Arianna Arestegui successfully got a majority of her colleagues to support creating the resource page.
“We need to have this conversation together,” Arestegui said during the meeting. “A lot of these provisions are things that are being enacted by other cities in our region that are major stakeholders in this issue as well and Garden Grove is the third largest Hispanic community in Orange County.”
But Councilman George Brietigam said the issue should be tackled at the state level and blamed California’s sanctuary law for the deportation raids – a law that largely curbs local law enforcement from aiding deportation efforts.
“The state is responsible. Not the federal government, the state – they created sanctuary state laws,” Brietigam said. “The sanctuary state laws made it so ICE has to go out in the community and chase people down. And it looks terrible, it scares people. It scares kids. This is what the state created.”
[Read: Garden Grove Becomes Flashpoint of Immigration Debate in Orange County]
Brietigam, who said immigrants should go through the citizenship process instead, voted against the resource page.
Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein, who abstained on the vote, warned the resource page could land Garden Grove on the federal government’s radar – potentially jeopardizing federal funding.
“I don’t want to have to look somebody in the face and say your rental assistance has been taken from you.”
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.
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