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Resident tells council federal immigration arrests are happening in Orange; mayor says she will inquire
Summary
At a City of Orange council meeting, a longtime resident urged officials to investigate apparent Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrests in local parking lots and said local media had not reported the incidents. The mayor said she was not aware of the incidents and would ask questions after the meeting.
Ronald Elkins, a lifelong Orange County resident, told the City of Orange council that federal agents wearing vests marked “HSI” (Homeland Security Investigations) had been detaining people in local parking lots, including the Mongolian Grill, and that the arrests were not being reported by local media.
“I tried dozens of Google searches. I checked KOGT, the Orange Leader, the Record — total silence,” Elkins said. “These raids are happening across the county. But all we have is word-of-mouth.”
The council did not take action on Elkins’s comments; they were delivered during the citizen-comment portion of the meeting, when council members said they could not respond to items not on the agenda. After public comment, the mayor said she was not aware of the events and that she would seek more information.
“I was not aware that that had happened. We are in a Tri-City area. I did not know that they came to that location, and so I will definitely want to find out what that was all about,” the mayor said, adding she would “ask some questions afterwards.”
The council did not announce any formal investigation or directive during the meeting. No law-enforcement representative addressed the council about the events while the item was under citizen comment.
