Residents urge Anaheim to expand Contigo fund and shield day laborers from ICE

Anaheim — Residents, volunteers and day laborers urged the Anaheim City Council on Aug. 26 to expand the city's Contigo fund, create a local immigrant legal-defense program and direct the police to document and verify immigration-enforcement encounters after a series of recent detentions near a Home Depot labor site. The requests came during the council's public-comment period at City Hall.

The appeal centered on repeated detentions at a known day-labor gathering place and the community's request that city resources be used to protect and support workers. "This will be for the counsel and Rob and Jim. Why can't we have the things they have in Santa Ana?" one speaker said, urging Anaheim to adopt measures modeled on other cities.

Why it matters: Speakers said the detentions have increased fear among day laborers who gather to find work and that existing outreach and legal help are insufficient. Several called for funds and on-the-ground legal services to be available where workers gather.

Organizers who described running a volunteer hub at City Hall said they already provide food, water and basic aid but lack the legal resources and staff time to respond to repeated enforcement actions. "The kidnappings of our 30 neighbors ... have shown the gaps in outreach to our most vulnerable communities," a volunteer hub representative said, urging the council to "expand the Contigo Fund and dedicate resources, stronger boots on the ground support and legal resources." The representative noted volunteers self-fund the effort.

Speakers asked the council to consider two concrete changes: expand Contigo (the local assistance pool cited by multiple speakers) and create an Anaheim Immigrant and Worker Legal Defense Fund. One commenter referenced Santa Ana's program, saying it had committed $250,000 for immigration legal services, and urged Anaheim to consider a comparable or larger ongoing commitment; another suggested figures in the range of $300,000 to $350,000.

Community members also asked police to exercise the maximum protections allowed by law when federal immigration agents appear. One speaker asked the council to direct local law enforcement to "verify agents' identities and warrants, documenting arrests and the identities of those taken," to reduce wrongful detentions and improve transparency.

Council members were not recorded taking formal action on these requests at the meeting. Several councilmembers and staff later acknowledged having visited the hub and hearing concerns.

Speakers and residents said outreach barriers persist: some workers decline to share bank statements or proof-of-income documents required by certain aid processes, which volunteers said makes assistance difficult to deliver. Organizers called for redesigning intake procedures to reduce barriers and preserve dignity for applicants.

The public-comment block drew multiple speakers: day-laborers who said they were being followed or harassed; volunteers who recounted providing continual on-site assistance; and community members who asked for both immediate legal aid and longer-term structural changes in city policy and funding. The council did not adopt a motion at the meeting; speakers asked staff to return with options for expanding assistance and for the council to consider ordinances modeled on other cities.

Looking ahead: Speakers asked for a clarified follow-up timeline and for the city to send staff to meet workers where they gather. No formal vote or appropriation was recorded at the Aug. 26 meeting.