Thread: CA: (SOB) Santa Ana faces calls to stop impounding immigrant

Santa Ana faces calls to stop impounding immigrants' cars

By ANDREW GALVIN
Orange County Register
May 4, 2011
SANTA ANA, CA

The question of how Latino this city's identity is, or should be, keeps cropping up, creating a bit of a minefield for the all-Latino City Council.

One area of contention has been the city's downtown shopping district, on East Fourth Street, where some Latino merchants have complained they feel they are being pushed out in a gentrification move.

The removal of a merry-go-round that attracted Latino families to the Fiesta Marketplace plaza at Fourth and Spurgeon streets has symbolized what some see as an agenda to make the downtown more appealing to people of many other ethnicities.

This week the City Council found itself attacked on a different front. Activists on behalf of undocumented immigrants want Santa Ana to stop impounding the cars of unlicensed drivers who are caught in DUI checkpoints. A parade of speakers during the public comment period of Monday's meeting asked the City Council to follow Los Angeles, where police recently adopted a policy aimed at impounding fewer vehicles from unlicensed drivers.

The issue is a complex one, sitting in the nexus of federal immigration enforcement, the California vehicle code, and city police practice. Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters said his department has already been doing what Los Angeles police recently started, which is to allow unlicensed drivers to call a licensed driver to come and drive their vehicle away, avoiding an impound and the onerous fees associated with it.

Such calls are made at the discretion of the officers at the scene, in cases where they determine that the unlicensed motorist has an otherwise clean record, Walters said.

The activists want to eliminate that discretion. They want the city to adopt an ordinance that would require officers to give sober, unlicensed drivers an opportunity to call a licensed driver, said Carlos Perea, a Santa Ana College student who spoke during public comments on Monday.

"You could have done this years ago," Perea, 19, told the council members. "You're a Latino City Council ... It's so simple. Why haven't you done it?"

Other speakers also attempted to appeal to the council members on grounds of ethnic solidarity. "All of you are Latino on the City Council, and you should support the common man," said one man, speaking in Spanish.

Census data from 2010 show that 78 percent of Santa Ana's 324,528 residents identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino. The number of undocumented immigrants residing in the city isn't known.

The activists argue that the impounding of vehicles is an unnecessary burden on undocumented immigrants, who by state law cannot obtain drivers licenses. The city charges $190 when it impounds a vehicle, and the owner must also pay towing and storage fees to retrieve it. State law requires the vehicles of unlicensed drivers to be impounded for 30 days, which can add more than $1,000 in fees. That's a lot of money for immigrants working at low-wage jobs to support their families, the activists argued.

They also pointed out that statewide, DUI checkpoints snare six unlicensed drivers for every drunken driver arrested, citing data from UC Berkeley's Safe Transportation Research and Education Center reported by California Watch.

In Santa Ana, where police run two DUI checkpoints a month, the checkpoints netted 418 unlicensed drivers and 148 DUI arrests in 2010, said Carlos Rojas, deputy chief of police. Some 459 vehicles were impounded at checkpoints in 2010, compared with 455 in 2009, he said.

Council members, all seven of whom have Latino roots, expressed empathy with those who cannot obtain drivers licenses and promised that the council's public safety committee will take up the question of impounds later this month.

But they rejected all arguments that they had a duty to act in ethnic solidarity. Councilwoman Michele Martinez called such arguments very "disturbing."

"My skin is brown, but I represent all walks of life, all nationalities," she said.

Councilman Vincent Sarmiento said that he misspoke at the previous council meeting on April 18, when he called Santa Ana "a Latino city." That statement came as he spoke in support of sprucing up a brick plaza at Fourth and French streets to create a space reminiscent of Mexican village plazas.

"We're a multi-cultural city, and that's what I should have called the city," he said Monday.

"This isn't a Latino city. It's a multi-cultural city that's currently predominantly Latino. We welcome all ethnicities to this city."

Santa Ana's City Council is not unlike those of other cities in having "a sense of being pulled in multiple directions," but "one of the obligations of the city is to sort of reflect Latino culture in various ways," said Louis DeSipio, a political science professor at UC Irvine who studies immigration and Latino politics.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-298 ... atino.html

"This isn't a Latino city. It's a multi-cultural city that's currently predominantly Latino. We welcome all ethnicities to this city."

Backpedaling much? He meant exactly what he said the first time, the entire article is touting it as a "latino" city.

The removal of a merry-go-round that attracted Latino families to the Fiesta Marketplace plaza at Fourth and Spurgeon streets has symbolized what some see as an agenda to make the downtown more appealing to people of many other ethnicities.

Sounds to me they have a problem with other ethnicities.

"You could have done this years ago," Perea, 19, told the council members. "You're a Latino City Council ... It's so simple. Why haven't you done it?"

Other speakers also attempted to appeal to the council members on grounds of ethnic solidarity. "All of you are Latino on the City Council, and you should support the common man," said one man, speaking in Spanish. [/quote]

I wasn't aware that latinos are the only "common" men.

The activists argue that the impounding of vehicles is an unnecessary burden on undocumented immigrants, who by state law cannot obtain drivers licenses.

What? It's not a burden to legal residents?? You are knowingly breaking so many laws and have the balls to whine about it?!?! Unbelievable!

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Oh Miguelina - you make me laugh so much - I totally agree with you but the way you phrase your sentences are exactly how my wife (a beautiful latina) speaks!!!! Thank you for your input and well thought-out opinions!!!!!

Totally agree miguelina was thinking the samething and would like to add if a prodomenatly white comunity had stated all of this. They'd be called raicest for making it all about their race, but here we see it and nobody says a word why not don't get it why we have to speak by their rules and they do what ever they want?


I guess we show respect as a culture to other cultures?

this proves what happens when latinos ( who are not patriotic like la raza) take over. Anyone who does not know ask about los angeles. The black man was used by the latino. At first they worked together then as there were more and more latinos you dont see any black leaders in that city

Originally Posted by American-ized

Oh Miguelina - you make me laugh so much - I totally agree with you but the way you phrase your sentences are exactly how my wife (a beautiful latina) speaks!!!! Thank you for your input and well thought-out opinions!!!!!

Thank you kindly American-ized. Your wife is a "wise latina".

miguelina wrote: The removal of a merry-go-round that attracted Latino families to the Fiesta Marketplace plaza at Fourth and Spurgeon streets has symbolized what some see as an agenda to make the downtown more appealing to people of many other ethnicities.

Sounds to me they have a problem with other ethnicities.

As a life long resident of OC, I can tell you this is correct! The majority of SA is like Tijuana el norte! Not much multiculturalism and diversity going on in SA!

If SA is so enclusive of other ethnicities, why is the City Council ALL latino? LOL! This is their definition of multiculturalism and diversity. ALL latino!

Hmmm, can it also be defined as bigoted and xenophobic?

Oops! What was I thinking?? Only old white men can be bigots and xenophobes, eh?