Santa Ana rallies against ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Santa Ana, CA – On Friday, July 25, about 20 protesters gathered on the corner of Bristol and 1st Streets, chanting “Healthcare is our right, try and take it, we will fight!” and “Y la migra? Fuera!” The protesters were answering the national call to action by the Legalization for All Network against Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”.

Rain Mendoza of Community Service Organization Orange County’s (CSO OC) Immigration Committee introduced the event, stating, “This bill is a blow to the working class, the very group of people Trump said he would uplift during his campaign. Trump has been in office for five months and within those five months his administration and allies have caused unmeasurable amounts of suffering to the most vulnerable of our communities.”

Sandra De Anda of the Orange County Rapid Response Network spoke about the lack of transparency in the Santa Ana police department regarding immigration enforcement activity in the city, stating, “They were trying not to disclose that ICE has been in our community since January 20 but we did our work and demanded answers!”

Diana Terreros with Freedom Road Socialist Organization Orange County pointed out, “In order to permanently put an end to attacks from our own government, we need a socialist revolution. This revolution would put the power into the worker’s hands, the people’s hands instead of the 1%. If we are the ones producing everything and making our society run, why should the power be in the hands of our bosses who don’t do shit?”

Zurysadhai Villa with CSO OC’s Police Accountability Committee stated that Trump wants to “maximize the use of federal resources to aggressively police communities and strengthen and expand legal protections for law enforcement officers.” She pointed out the absurdity of this because “officers are already killing and sexually assaulting civilians without consequences.”

Mendoza also spoke about Alejandro Orellana, an immigrant rights organizer with Centro CSO who was arrested and charged by the FBI in June for protesting against ICE raids in Los Angeles. “If convicted, this sets a dangerous precedent for the rights of protesters and should be fought against with everything we have. They are trying to send a message to all of us who want to fight back against the assault on our immigrant communities.”

The crowd chanted in support of Orellana, “Drop the charges now!” Since this action took place, the charges on Orellana have been dropped.

Another member of CSO OC Immigration Committee closed the protest on a hopeful note, stating, “While immigration raids have devastated countless members of our immigrant communities, grassroots resistance has impeded and will continue to impede ICE’s ability to terrorize us.” He called on attendees to get organized to continue resisting these attacks.

#SantaAnaCA #CA #Trump #PeoplesStruggles #CSOOC