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Santa Ana council directs staff to draft ban on immigration‑related secondary employment for city officers
Summary
Councilmembers asked staff to draft Santa Ana Municipal Code language explicitly prohibiting immigration‑related secondary employment by police and to consider extending the prohibition to other city employees and contractors; staff said SAPD's current approval process would already deny ICE side‑work but codification is intended to bolster community trust.
The Santa Ana City Council on May 20 directed staff to draft an ordinance to prohibit city police officers from taking secondary employment tied to immigration enforcement, and to explore whether similar language should apply to other city employees and contractors.
Mayor introduced the request, saying the move would align local code with existing Santa Ana Police Department policy and the city’s community‑oriented policing goals. "The proposed legislative action will establish language within the Santa Ana Municipal Code prohibiting secondary employment of Santa Ana police officers related to immigration enforcement," the mayor said during the item introduction.
Councilmembers emphasized the intent was to preserve public trust. Councilmember Becerra, who co‑sponsored the item, framed it as a response to reported reductions in ICE training and a desire to avoid "ill trained" outside agents working in local communities. Councilmember Lopez urged that any ordinance include clear enforcement language, apply to contractors and reserves where appropriate, and define exceptions (for example, military reservists) to avoid unintended consequences.
SAPD Chief (responding to council questions) described the department’s outside‑employment approval process and training standards: officers attend a California POST‑accredited academy with about 1,000 hours of training and any outside employment request goes up the chain of command for approval. "If they come to you and say we're gonna work for a contractor who's working for ICE on the side, the answer would be, sir?" the mayor asked; the chief replied that such requests would be denied.
City Manager and legal staff said they would return with draft municipal code language and that the council could consider broader application to contractors and non‑sworn staff pending union discussions. Several members also asked staff to track AB 1537, a state bill the council discussed separately that would require transparency and disclosure of immigration‑related secondary employment.
No final ordinance vote was taken; council’s action was a direction to the city manager and city attorney to prepare a codified prohibition and return with proposed language and implementation options within the coming weeks.
Provenance: topicintro SEG 2576; topfinish SEG 3010
