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Many of you are aware that I too struggle with concerns about people being detained in Adelanto or Texas. As an advocate for the LGBT community in Orange County, and as an immigration rights activist, I have been involved in the intersection of LGBT and immigration rights. In 2014 I participated in a protest at the Santa Ana Jail to highlight the poor conditions of the transgender women in ICE detention and have worked closely with organizers, community leaders and elected officials to find a solution to this human rights problem. We connected city leaders with organizations like CIVIC who brought valid proposals to about alternatives to detention. Instead, the city engaged in a process to determine how to hire someone who can help determine how to come up with a way to determine how to re -use the city jail. It has been suggested that it is the fault of our activism that the transgender women would be transferred to unsafe spaces, to which my response is that city leaders should be working with the community to do the right thing and develop alternatives to detention and necessary resources, and not to blame the community for fighting for their own freedom. Conversations with city leaders generally ceased when I advocated for resources and legal support for releasing the transgender detainees rather than for extending the contract. This seems to reinforce that while they may genuinely care about what happens to these detainees if transferred, the bottom line was being driven by the police association and the budget. Regardless of the impetus, the reality is that to maintain a transgender detention jail in Santa Ana is an inhumane and deleterious proposal. When the election happened, Santa Ana city leaders stepped up to declare Santa Ana a sanctuary city. This was the right thing for this city to do. The end of ICE contract in mid-May is an appropriate and necessary step to ensure that this sanctuary city lives up to its promise. To have continued collaboration with ICE in any way defeats the meaning of this resolution and does not serve to increase the safety and well-being of transgender women, who will be rounded up to fill ICE beds. I am convinced that the Santa Ana City Council genuinely cares about LGBT people and will stand up to protect our community. In this case, I am also convinced that the right thing to do is to end the ICE contract in full at the 90 day date. At this time, local advocates, who have spent many years fighting to get ICE of their city, have been working diligently with lawyers and resource providers to hasten the release of those currently detained.To maintain a contract with ICE and in particular to maintain that collaboration to solely hold transgender immigrants would be to create a jail for transgender women in this city. This would not be in the best interest of this vulnerable population or this city. I implore the members of the city council to end the contract with ICE in fall as planned. Yours sincerely, Laura Kanter Laura W. Kanter, MSW I Director of Policy, Advocacy and Youth Programs Shel Her I Hers LGBT Center OC