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Mayor, council call for information after masked immigration enforcement actions reported in Irvine
Summary
Mayor Larry Agren told the council of recent immigration-enforcement activity in Irvine that has caused community alarm. He said officers in unmarked vehicles and masks detained several people, and that the Irvine Police Department will not conduct immigration enforcement; the mayor asked staff and the police chief to report back to the council.
Mayor Larry Agren told the council he had consulted with the city manager and chief of police and that federal immigration enforcement actions in Irvine in recent weeks had generated "considerable widespread anxiety." Agren said, to the best of the city's knowledge, Border Patrol and ICE activity in early July focused on workplaces and "resulted in the apparent detention of 5 individuals." He said city police could not confirm who made the arrests, what legal authority they used, or where the detained workers were being held.
"We simply don't know for sure," Agren said, describing masked agents in unmarked vehicles who "wore no identifying badges" and did not disclose names. The mayor said the Irvine Police Department, "in accordance with the provisions of state law, does not and will not engage in immigration enforcement" and that Chief Waleed Kent has been in regular communication with other Orange County police chiefs.
Councilmember Betty Martinez Franco and others described the detentions as frightening for immigrant families and called for transparency and a city response. Martinez Franco said the actions were "about intimidation" and told the council she had lived the fear of immigration enforcement herself.
Agren said he would call upon City Manager Sean Crumby and Chief Kent to make a brief report at a future meeting and asked residents who encounter apparent enforcement activity to call Irvine Police rather than intervene. The council asked staff to provide additional interim reports as events warrant and made public referrals for information resources on the city website.
