Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice

06/02/2026

Carlos Perea, Director Ejecutivo de Harbor Institute, participó en Univision Al Punto California para conversar sobre los cambios en la opinión pública respecto a la inmigración, las deportaciones y el futuro de ICE.

Durante décadas, el Partido Demócrata ha respondido con demasiada frecuencia a los ataques antiinmigrantes adoptando políticas más duras de fiscalización, detención y deportación. El resultado ha sido un consenso político que ha causado un daño real a las comunidades inmigrantes, sin abordar las causas estructurales de la migración.

Pero la política migratoria está cambiando.

Como sugiere una nueva encuesta de UCI, muchas personas votantes en el Condado de Orange están cuestionando supuestos de larga data sobre la aplicación de las leyes migratorias y muestran una mayor apertura hacia alternativas más audaces.

Si los demócratas realmente quieren trazar un rumbo distinto a la agenda antiinmigrante de Trump, no basta con regresar al viejo statu quo. Necesitamos una visión que ponga en el centro a las comunidades inmigrantes, rechace las deportaciones masivas y enfrente los daños causados por ICE.

Ve la conversación completa.

05/29/2026

More than 50,000 people were forced to evacuate after a chemical disaster at GKN Aerospace.

Families displaced. Schools disrupted. Entire communities left wondering whether they were going to be able to go back to their homes.

The GKN Aerospace chemical disaster exposed more than a public safety failure. It exposed the reality that working-class immigrant communities are being asked to absorb the risks of hazardous manufacturing while corporations profit.

It also raises a deeper question: Why is a facility connected to the F-35 fighter jet supply chain supporting Israel’s military operations operating next to homes, schools, and neighborhoods in Orange County?

Residents deserve answers. They deserve accountability. And the facility that has already endangered tens of thousands of people needs to be shut down.

05/28/2026

‼️BREAKING‼️GKN EXPOSED: The People’s Embargo for Palestine’s newly published briefing—independently verified by The Intercept—exposes GKN Aerospace’s role in supplying components for military aircraft destined for Israel.

"The military contractor responsible for a Southern California chemical leak that forced as many as 50,000 people to evacuate their homes over the weekend manufactures parts of F-35 fighter jets likely bound for Israel, The Intercept has learned."

The military contractor whose leak displaced 50,000 Californians makes millions aiding fighter jet production for Lockheed Martin.

05/27/2026

Earlier today, community organizations and residents held a press conference to launch the “Arms Embargo: GKN Out of Garden Grove” campaign following the toxic chemical disaster at GKN Aerospace that forced the evacuation of more than 50,000 residents across Orange County.

Working-class immigrant and refugee communities should never be forced to live next to hazardous chemical and military manufacturing facilities. Coalition organizers also raised concerns over GKN’s reported ties to the F-35 fighter jet supply chain connected to Israel’s military operations.

The coalition is demanding accountability, transparency, a halt to GKN expansion plans, and the permanent shutdown of the facility.

Garden Grove residents deserve safety over corporate profits.

05/21/2026

The second proposal, introduced by Hernandez and Councilmember Benjamin Vazquez, would formally support the proposed AB 1537, state legislation known as the No Side Jobs for ICE Act. Supporters say the bill would close what Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) and co-sponsors, including the Harbor Institute for Immigrant & Economic Justice, describe as a “loophole” in California’s sanctuary protections.

The Santa Ana city council will consider an ordinance barring police from off-duty immigration enforcement work and a resolution supporting AB 1537, or the No Side Jobs for ICE Act.

05/21/2026

On Tuesday, May 19, the Santa Ana City Council unanimously supported moving forward with a resolution backing AB 1537, proposed state legislation that would prohibit local and state law enforcement officers from working immigration enforcement-related side jobs tied to detention and deportation operations.

The proposed resolution was introduced by Councilmembers Benjamin Vazquez and Johnathan Hernandez following recent ICE and Border Patrol operations across Santa Ana.

As Councilmember Vazquez stated during the meeting:
“We should support AB 1537 to make sure that it’s not just SAPD, but that ANYONE who’s state or local law enforcement working in our city isn’t using their free time to work as deportation agents.”

The Council also advanced a related local ordinance proposed by Mayor Valerie Amezcua and Councilmember Phil Bacerra that would restrict immigration enforcement-related side jobs by Santa Ana police officers and city employees.

Community organizations, including the OC Immigrant & Economic Justice Collaborative, spoke in support of the proposed resolution backing AB 1537.

Both the resolution and ordinance will return to the City Council at a future meeting.

05/07/2026

At Santa Ana’s May Day rally, Harbor Institute’s Executive Director delivered a clear message: the era of empty promises on immigration must end.

For decades, both parties expanded enforcement, detention, and deportation while asking our communities to settle for “reform” that only moved policy further to the right. That’s how ICE became the deportation machine it is today.

Immigrant workers keep Orange County running. Our communities deserve more than fear, surveillance, and political cowardice.

OC Congressmembers need to choose:�keep funding and reforming ICE, or stand with the people that are calling for an end to ICE.

No more excuses. No more compromise.�Defund. Dismantle. Abolish ICE.

05/05/2026

May is AAPI Heritage Month.

In Orange County, 52% of immigrant and refugee residents were born in Asia.

Over 1 in 4 Asian immigrants and refugees are noncitizens, and 44% of OC residents born in Asia make under $75,000 a year.

In one of the most expensive regions in the country, even $94,750 is considered “low income” for a single person.

Nearly half a million OC residents were born in Asia: 32% in Vietnam, 15% in China, 14% in Korea, 11% in the Philippines, and 7% in India.

This is why immigrant justice is economic justice.

05/01/2026

New polling out of University of California, Irvine School of Social Ecology shows a clear shift in how Orange County residents are thinking about immigration and ICE.

• 67% of OC Democrats support abolishing ICE.

• 63% of all residents oppose ICE’s current actions.

• 57% of Asian and Latino communities are driving support for local sanctuary policies.

OC residents are watching their neighbors get targeted, detained, and brutalized, and they’re rejecting it.

OC is fed up with ICE terrorizing communities and violating basic rights.

04/16/2026

Harbor Institute joined organizations from across the state for the California Immigrant Policy Center’s Immigrant Day of Action 2026, bringing together immigrant rights advocates to advance key immigration policy priorities in California.

At the conference, we co-led a session on using data and public records to support accountability and strengthen organizing efforts, with Dr. Mai Nguyen Do representing Harbor Institute.

On Advocacy Day, our Policy & Communications Specialist Logan Smith joined partner organizations in legislative visits, including with Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, to advocate for increased transparency and oversight of immigration enforcement.

From research and analysis to direct engagement with policymakers, this is how we are advancing immigrant justice to our communities are uplifted.