With federal immigration sweeps having targeted car washes, public parks and day laborers outside of Home Depot, Anaheim officials are looking for ways — including a recent Disney affordable housing donation — to contribute to a fund created to help undocumented immigrants amid a climate of fear.
Launched last month, Anaheim Contigo has provided accurate information on immigration enforcement raids while linking to critical resources on the city’s website.
It has also facilitated grants through the Anaheim Community Foundation to help residents who are otherwise too terrified to go to work out of fear of being arrested by masked Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, or already had a relative apprehended, keep up with utility bills and rent.
Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken pushed for a discussion at Tuesday’s Anaheim City Council meeting on allocating $250,000 from the city coffers to bolster the fund.
“When we announced Anaheim Contigo, we [did so] without financial support, which was lost on me at the time,” she said. “It’s a façade of unity with the community if we’re not willing to put a dime towards helping our residents.”
Anaheim Contigo, which translates to “Anaheim With You,” has raised $35,000 in outside contributions through Tuesday. Anaheim Public Utilities and the Samueli Foundation have contributed $10,000 each. Anaheim Councilmember Norma Campos Kurtz’s office donated $5,500. Her council colleague Carlos Leon chipped in $2,200 from his office’s discretionary funds.
Anaheim Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava, who pledged to donate $2,500, mentioned that one of the city’s largest employers declined to contribute to the fund, but did not name the company.
The program has doled out roughly $3,000 in rent and utility payments to seven grant awardees, so far, including an Anaheim father whose hours at a local nursery got cut after federal immigration agents raided his workplace and a grandmother too fearful to report to her job as a hotel housekeeper.
To be eligible, applicants must provide proof of residency in addition to meeting low-income and attested need standards. City officials do not inquire about immigration status.
Disney’s donation to affordable housing in Anaheim is being looked at as a possible source of Anaheim Contigo funds.
(File photo)
But as Anaheim passed a tight $2.4-billion budget that addressed a $64-million deficit last month, some council members had questions about where the city’s contribution would be culled from.
“We used borrowed money, reserves and one-time money to maintain current service levels,” said Anaheim Councilmember Natalie Meeks. “Are we cutting a police officer? Are we cutting library hours? Are we reducing other community services to make this happen?”
Meeks signaled that she would not vote to allocate city funds to Anaheim Contigo without a detailed breakdown.
Anaheim Councilmember Ryan Balius had similar reservations.
“We recently adopted a budget that includes a substantial deficit,” he said. “Departments across the city are already being asked to tighten their belts, delay their projects and rethink their services.”
Balius suggested he would be more open to a proposal that broadens emergency assistance to all struggling in the city, not just undocumented immigrants impacted by enforcement raids.
Leon highlighted the story of Gilberto Gomez-Garcia, a local resident, father and car wash worker who is now at the Adelanto ICE Detention Center after a July 3 immigration raid in the city.
“There is very real fear and uncertainty that a lot of our residents are living with,” he said. “Our ability to intervene in immigration enforcement is limited, but this proposal to reallocate funds for emergency family grants… it’s a compassionate and concrete way where we can act.”
Amid the debate, Rubalcava, who supported upping the cap on one-time Anaheim Contigo emergency grants from $500 to $1,000, suggested the council consider allocating $250,000 from the Walt Disney Co.’s recent $15-million donation to support a city trust for affordable housing.
“They’re going to give [to the Anaheim Contigo fund], even if they don’t want to,” Rubalcava remarked.
A spokesperson for the Disneyland Resort, which is Orange County’s largest employer, did not respond to TimesOC questions whether the company had declined to make an upfront donation to Anaheim Contigo fund.
The other Disney donation, the first of two $15-million payments, came after the council approved DisneylandForward, the company’s nearly $2-billion expansion plan for its existing properties, last year. Part of the donation is already set aside to address eviction protections in addition to funding affordable housing projects.
Aitken supported the proposal to direct city staff to see if it is legally possible to allocate a portion of the Disney donation to help undocumented immigrants in need. City officials will also look into the Anaheim Housing Authority’s unrestricted funds as another possible source.
The council passed the proposal 5-2 with Balius and Meeks dissenting.
If the Disney donation doesn’t pan out when the council meets again on July 22, the city will look to its general fund to make its contribution.
“We are called to meet the moment and prioritize the basic needs of our Anaheim residents,” Aitken said during the meeting. “This only scratches the surface of the need that’s out there. We are stronger when we work together. If we are going to advertise [Anaheim Contigo], we need to stand by it, not just in words.”
