Emotions flared and accusations were hurled back and forth by speakers at a Simi Valley City Council meeting that turned into a bitter debate over immigration enforcement.
No physical fights erupted at the meeting on July 21. No arrests were made. But shouting matches emerged in and outside of the meeting room.
After an initial public comment session, one person told people who had been carrying Mexican flags to “go back home.” In the ensuing verbal altercation, spectators chanted “kick her out.” Mayor Dee Dee Cavanaugh took the rare step of clearing the audience from council chambers.
People moved outside, chanting and waving signs. More shouting matches happened as Simi Valley police monitored the scene.
Cavanaugh reopened the meeting after about 20 minutes. After two public hearings on different matters, public comment resumed and the immigration debate rolled on, still loud but more in control.
More than 100 people came to the meeting and to the protest that preceded it. Most were opposed to rising immigration enforcement. They chanted “ICE out of Simi” and carried signs with sayings like “Hate Won’t Make America Great.”
Others came in support of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. They brought a sign that referenced the minors detained at Glass House Farms in a July 10 immigration raid. Another sign cited people arrested at the farms with criminal records.
Federal authorities said more than 350 undocumented people were arrested at Glass House near Camarillo and in Carpinteria. The raid heightened the already tense divide over immigration. Less than a week later, a protest in Camarillo brought a tense standoff at an ICE field office.
The Simi debate was different in part because of its setting. It happened in the only city in Ventura County where Donald Trump won the popular vote for the presidency in November.
Still, opponents of immigration enforcement outnumbered ICE supporters at the July 21 meeting. Many of them asked the City Council to condemn federal immigration enforcement activities.
“I see my community under attack, and I don’t see my City Council doing anything about it,” said Roop Maan, a law student.
Others accused the Simi Valley Police Department of working with ICE and called for local officers to do more to protect residents. Police Chief Steve Shorts said the city does not, and cannot by law, help or coordinate ICE activities. He noted local law enforcement is also prohibited from obstructing federal police.
Speakers alleged racial profiling by ICE and complained about masks that hide identity. They characterized detentions as kidnappings.
Claire Menges, the Simi 16-year-old who organized the protest before the meeting, told the council about fear.
“My friends with citizenship who are black and brown, they are scared to go outside,” she said.
Lana Zukovski who came to the U.S. from the Soviet Union cited her support of legal immigration. She said illegal immigrants wrongly receive government-paid medical care and bring down wages for American citizens. She called on the City Council to support current immigration laws.
“I do support law enforcement – ICE, Border Patrol, the federal government and their actions to make America America again,” she said.
Paul Johnson was one of many who focused on sanctuary laws.
“Simi Valley should not be soft on crime,” he said. “(A) sanctuary city is soft on crime. Enforce the laws that the voters voted for.”
Both sides cited alleged violence and aggression from people with opposing views. During the meeting, they hooted at each other’s arguments. They yelled out when an opposition speaker used up the allotted two minutes.
Cavanaugh told the crowd that the council couldn’t discuss the topic because immigration wasn’t on the agenda. She told them their views were heard and said a city priority is to make sure people are safe and use police and other services without fear.
Councilman Joseph Ayala noted that most of the people in the meeting go to the same grocery stores and use the same streets. He said people have to remember they share a community.
“I know it’s hard, but let’s try to be the example of that city where we can have those different perspectives but still treat everyone with respect,” he said. “Some people did not treat other people with respect today.”
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Uproar over immigration clears Simi council chambers
Reporting by Tom Kisken, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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