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Local groups describe daily immigration enforcement in Coachella Valley and urge funding for legal and emergency services
Summary
Speakers from TODEC and the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice told the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission that enforcement has continued daily since 2024, that TODEC now supports 113 Palm Springs residents with wraparound services, and that rapid‑response hotlines and proposed legal funds are critical to keep families housed and safe.
Luz Gallegos of TODEC told the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission on July 13 that immigration enforcement across the Coachella Valley "is happening daily." She said TODEC activated an emergency hotline in January 2025 that assigns a caseworker and now supports 113 Palm Springs residents with legal help, grocery deliveries and other wraparound services.
"We are helping a 113 of your residents that have been impacted by immigration enforcement," Gallegos said, and described volunteers and community donations keeping the work running after unrestricted funds were exhausted in June 2026. She said volunteers trained since 2024 number about 500 across the valley and that large‑scale operations, including a June 18 operation described as the largest in the region, have driven the need for sustained services.
Representatives from the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (IC4IJ) — Michelle Monharas, Coachella Valley organizer, and Eddie Torres, policy director — described a regional Rapid Response Network that records community reports, dispatches trained responders and documents enforcement when it occurs. Monharas said IC4IJ's hotline produced 25 reports for Palm Springs since June 2025; 21 of those were ICE incidents and four were Border Patrol sightings.
"On the map, I jotted down the 25 reports that we've gotten on our hotline since June 2025," Monharas said, and cautioned that the number likely understates total enforcement because many community members do not report. Torres added that the group uses aggregated hotline data in reports to legislators and can submit incidents to the state attorney general's dashboard.
IC4IJ speakers also warned about surveillance tools used by law enforcement and private vendors. "Flock cameras'and automatic license plate readers'all that information gets sold over to fusion centers," Torres said, arguing that local contract changes and state laws are needed to protect residents' data.
Both presenters urged local governments to back legal and emergency funds. Torres said Montclair recently started a $50,000 legal fund and that talks were underway in San Bernardino about a possible $500,000 fund; he said those models could be adapted for Palm Springs. "It is really powerful" to pass sanctuary or protective language, Torres said, "but it's also more powerful to add additional steps and resources behind it, like legal protection."
Commissioners asked how the commission and city can help; presenters recommended quiet, community‑led outreach to avoid exposing people in hiding and requested help with funding and connections to local law enforcement contact information for coordination. Chair Hugo Loyola and other commissioners said staff would follow up and agendize more formal collaboration with immigrant‑service organizations at a future meeting.
The commission took no formal policy action at the meeting but agreed to discuss follow‑up steps in September.
