SANTA ANA – Two weeks after Santa Ana became the first Orange County municipality to adopt a resolution declaring itself a sanctuary for all residents regardless of immigration status, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted in favor of a corresponding ordinance adding teeth to that commitment.

Councilman Vincent Sarmiento acknowledged concerns among some community members that President-elect Donald Trump and his administration would pull federal funding from sanctuary cities, but, “we feel it’s so important that it’s a risk we have to take.”

While a resolution is a statement of policy, an ordinance is a specific law that upon violation could be punishable by either a fine or imprisonment, according to Jorge Garcia, senior management assistant for the City Manager’s Office.

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The ordinance adheres closely to the sanctuary resolution and incorporates “appropriate language and style” from it, Garcia said. The City Council approved the resolution 5-0 on Dec. 6, with Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilwoman Michele Martinez absent. Two newly elected council members participated in Tuesday’s 7-0 vote in favor of the ordinance.

Specifically, the ordinance requires the city to implement policies that include prohibiting the use of city resources for immigration enforcement, protecting sensitive information, preventing biased-based policing and directing law enforcement officials to exercise discretion to cite and release individuals instead of detaining them at a local facility or county jail based on the nature of the alleged crime.

Additionally, the ordinance calls for the city to provide more training for affected employees and establish a task force made up of community members to advise the City Council on policies related to the ordinance.

But unlike the resolution, the proposed ordinance stated that the restriction on use of city resources would not have applied when a subject was under investigation, had an outstanding criminal warrant, had been convicted of a felony or faced a felony charge.

Some two dozen immigration rights activists rallied outside City Hall before the meeting, calling for council members to adopt the ordinance to make Santa Ana “a true sanctuary city,” but to remove the exceptions allowing the use of city resources in the cases of criminal defendants.

Santa Ana resident Roberto Carlos Herrera, 25, a community engagement advocate for the immigrants rights group Resilience OC, said the added language sets up a “good immigrant, bad immigrant narrative.”

“We don’t want to get into this language in the ordinance that the city is not going to work with (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on civil matters but they are going to work with ICE on criminal matters,” Herrera said.

Councilman David Benavides heeded that request – also voiced by dozens of other public comment speakers – and motioned to omit that language.

“What I would like to do tonight is to go ahead and stand with the community, do the right thing and go with the modifications,” Benavides said.

The council unanimously agreed to remove that language.

Martinez, voted mayor pro tem last week, asked City Attorney Sonia Carvalho to clarify that the ordinance wouldn’t have ramifications on federal funding to Santa Ana.

Trump has expressed opposition to “sanctuary policies” and in October released his 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again, stating that he will “cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities.”

This year, Santa Ana has received $123 million in federal grants, of which $66.8 million is recurring.

“I don’t see any immediate threats … but (the city is) preparing in the event we should see some threats,” Carvalho responded.

Newly elected Councilman Juan Villegas, an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy, said he supports the ordinance, but “no one knows what’s going to happen in the future, so if we have a severe impact (financially), I recommend that we revisit it.”

Pulido – whose absence at the Dec. 6 meeting with the resolution vote was not excused by council members at that time – also spoke along those lines.

“If things change and we know we are in danger of losing money, we need to revisit everything because we owe it to this community, the entire community, to get as much money for the city as we can,” the mayor said.

The other newly elected councilman, Jose Solorio, said he stands for protecting residents and immigrants and that the ordinance “is not enough.”

“I think we need to oppose the Trump administration on many things,” Solorio said.

Councilman Sal Tinajero said passing the ordinance is important because “we want the community to feel safe and empowered … that if anyone tried to harm them, that we will be there to defend their rights.”

Santa Ana is one of the most ethnically and racially diverse cities in the United States, with immigrants comprising about 46 percent of the city’s population, according to the ordinance.

“The city has long derived its strength and prosperity from its diverse community, including those who identify as immigrants, and prides itself of the achievements,” the ordinance states.

The ordinance passed on first reading, meaning it becomes law if approved on second reading at the next council meeting.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7762 or jkwong@ocregister.com Twitter: @JessicaGKwong