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Garden Grove residents press council to respond to mayor pro tem's remarks and increase protections for immigrants
Summary
Multiple public speakers urged the council to condemn recent statements by Mayor Pro Tem Joe Dovin, called for legal defense funds and clearer city stances on cooperation with ICE, and requested outreach to inform residents of their rights; Mayor Pro Tem Dovin was absent from the meeting.
A string of public comments at Tuesday’s Garden Grove meeting focused on immigration enforcement and recent public remarks by Mayor Pro Tem Joe Dovin. Speakers representing local advocacy groups and residents urged the city to take concrete steps to protect immigrant residents and to clarify whether city staff should cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Mai Nguyen Do, research and policy manager at the Harbor Institute for Immigrants and Economic Justice, told the council that the mayor pro tem had publicly said there was "nothing to oppose" about ICE’s aggressive behavior and had directed staff to cooperate with ICE, and that he had threatened to "fire the chief of police" if the chief followed California law limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Nguyen Do said the community "deserves to know clearly and without question" whether the council condones discriminatory language and the leveraging of elected office to target political opponents.
Other speakers—including representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR Greater Los Angeles), Vidic RISE (a youth-led advocacy group), and multiple residents—detailed instances of community fear, reported ICE tactics, and requested the council create legal defense funds, public-rights education campaigns, and connections to community legal services. One speaker said her organization is representing an Afghan parolee detained after being misled by ICE to come to a post office to pick up an employment authorization card.
Speakers repeatedly pressed for concrete council action: condemnatory statements, resource commitments (legal defense funds and food pantry support), rights-awareness outreach, and assurances that city staff will follow state law. Mayor Pro Tem Dovin was not present at the meeting; no formal council action or vote related to the remarks was taken during the session, though multiple speakers asked the council to take public, concrete steps.
