War Waged On Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua For Centering Law And Order

Vilified for her level-headed approach to ICE-related unrest in Santa Ana, a sanctuary city, Mayor Amezcua stood firm: “I stand with my colleagues, and stand with all of you.”

At a calamitous City Council meeting in Santa Ana last Tuesday, Santaneros swarmed City Hall to lash out at Mayor Valerie Amezcua. In the wake of an ICE immigration sweep over Father’s Day weekend, progressives have attacked her response as ‘insufficient’ and ‘unsatisfactory’ for their liking — and have demanded her recall.

“Why is ICE able to roam through our streets undisturbed?” anti-police and leftist provocateur Fernando Delgado, who commandeered the protest outside the main event, posed to the angry mob. “It’s because we have politicians that are happy to deny the humanity of our families.”

Delgado and the demonstrators’ grievance with the Democratic mayor and council traces back to Amezcua’s remarks about recent clashes between protesters and police in Santa Ana. On Facebook, she put a spotlight on the “pure violence and destruction” she had witnessed, and called out councilmembers who participated in the anti-ICE demonstrations—for allegedly “condoning this destruction.”

In a follow up from her office on June 11, the mayor clarified her own position that “the vast majority of those involved [have] participated peacefully and without incident.” Amezcua added that as the National Guard were being called onto the scene, she was “busy behind the scenes” meeting with local legislators and community leaders to restore balance in Santa Ana.

She declared in her message, “[we have] been vocal in requesting an end to this militarization in our city.” 

The protesters at City Hall on Tuesday, however, branded her as complicit in what they described as an ‘excessive’ crackdown—despite the fact that her office has made it “very clear” she has zero intention of cooperating with ICE. 

"We have not had a contract with ICE since 2017, so that is not happening," the mayor said to ABC 7 just days before the council reconvened.

With the closed session opening up to the public not long after 6 P.M., the delay did not go unnoticed. After hours of Santaneros harping “ICE OUT OF OC,” “CHINGA LA MIGRA” (F*** ICE), and eventually “LET US IN,” the almost 8-hour circus finally commenced.

Amid a raucous crowd and limited seating, the meeting temporarily lost its composure when a woman refused to settle in her seat, leading her to being detained and escorted out. 

Unsurprisingly, the crowds took the opportunity to cast more stones, and exploded with disapproval. They booed and called “shame!” towards the officers on hand, but the main event soon returned after a brief crisis.

Over one hundred speakers followed, echoing points raised during the earlier sit-in, still packed outside the chambers. Nearly all chastised the mayor for her Facebook post, insisting the violence amounted to little more than “a couple fireworks” some kids had set off.

Despite this pervasive narrative about the weekend protests being ‘largely civilized’, the Santa Ana Police Department produced a lengthy report which asserted that they responded to many violent, riot-like attacks on police and crowds with fireworks, rocks, and bottles.  

Many council members themselves sold out Amezcua and vilified the police. Her own colleagues pressured her to support terminating supposedly “illegal” contracts that provide crucial communication channels between federal agencies and local police—channels vital to preventing further anarchy.

Hernandez went on record with the Voice of OC prior, charging the mayor with “choosing to criminalize our actions,” instead of being “the first to come out and say this isn’t okay.”

“I understood that when I ran for mayor, that it was going to be good, bad…sometimes I was going to do things right, do things wrong,” Amezcua remarked at the end of the evening, taking the mudslinging with grace and dignity. 

“But I just want to be really clear, unequivocally, that I do not support what is happening in our city…there’s nothing that I can do besides stand with my colleagues and stand with all of you.” 

Councilmembers Penaloza and Bacerra were the only ones that night in Amezcua’s corner. Penaloza had told the press that “a lot of the heat is manufactured by my colleagues,” which he stood by when Councilwoman Lopez hounded him about the statement.

“We can scream at the mayor. She did this. She didn’t do that,” Bacerra lamented, adding “but at the end of the day, we’re not the ones asking ICE to be here.”

A final word of consideration, the mayor held that she is a team player through and through, emphasizing that “the city manager, the city attorney, and the city clerk work for all seven [members]…I am one vote of seven.”

While the council has not formally considered asking Mayor Amezcua to resign or pursuing censure, an online petition for her recall has already drawn over 5,700 signatures. Though not yet filed with the city, a special election could occur if her critics do not relent.