Ordinance No. NS-XXX
ORDINANCE NO. NS-XXX
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTION 9 -16 OF THE SANTA ANA
MUNICPAL CODE TO PROHIBIT CITY EMPLOYEES FROM ENGAGING
IN SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT INVOLVING CIVIL IMMIGRATION
ENFORCEMENT, INCLUDING WITH OR ON BEHALF OF U.S. FEDERAL
IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana is a charter city with authority under Article XI, Section 5 of the California Constitution to regulate the terms and conditions of employment of its own employees as a municipal affair; and
WHEREAS, Santa Ana Municipal Code Section 9 -16 currently governs outside employment for employees in the competitive service and establishes a discretionary approval standard that does not expressly address outside employment involving civil immigration enforcement; and
WHEREAS, the Santa Ana Police Department has Policy 1021 regarding outside employment for employees of the police department and the City has a policy regarding outside employment for employees in the competitive service and outside of the police department which prohibit incompatible employment and/o r conflicts between City employment and any outside employment; and
WHEREAS, Government Code Section 1126 provides that a local agency officer or employee shall not engage in any employment, activity, or enterprise for compensation that is inconsistent, incompatible, in conflict with, or inimical to his or her duties as a local agency officer or employee; and
WHEREAS, Penal Code Section 70(e)(2) separately and expressly authorizes a local agency to restrict a peace officer’s off -duty secondary employment by written regulation or policy adopted by the employing agency; and
WHEREAS, the California Supreme Court, in Long Beach Police Officers Assn. v.
City of Long Beach (1988) 46 Cal.3d 736, 738, held that Government Code Section 1126 was intended merely to illustrate the types of outside employment activities that may be subject to local-agency control, and does not limit a local agency’s power to impose additional restrictions on outside employment activities not specifically delineated in the statute; and
WHEREAS, the City is responsible for local affairs and certain core public functions, including providing for public safety, public services, and the health and welfare of the residents within its municipal jurisdiction; and
Ordinance No. NS-XXX
WHEREAS, since early 2025, Santa Ana a nd neighboring Orange County communities have experienced heightened civil immigration enforcement activity which has led to fear in the community and disruption of the daily lives of many residents; and
WHEREAS, Santa Ana is home to a large and diverse immigrant population, and City services depend on the willingness of all residents — regardless of immigration status — to report crimes, seek emergency assistance, access public health and safety services, and otherwise participate in civic life without fear that doing so will expose them, their families, or their neighbors to civil immigration enforcement; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that outside employment by City employees — sworn and civilian alike — involving the investigation, arrest, detention, transport, or deportation of individuals pursuant to civil immigration law, whether performed for U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, any other component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or a private contractor performing such functions under federal authority, creates an actual and perceived conflict of interest, exposes the City employee to divided loyalties between their City duties and outside com pensation, and undermines community trust in City government generally and in the Santa Ana Police Department in particular; and
WHEREAS, this erosion of trust would be compounded if residents and members of the public were unable to distinguish City employees engaged in official City business from City employees engaged in outside employment in civil immigration enforcement and this would impair the City’s ability to safely and effectively deliver services to all residents; and
WHEREAS, the City believes there is a need to protect City personnel from divided loyalty and to avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest in its workforce that could erode community trust and obstruct civic engagement;
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Santa Ana does ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. The recitals above are true, correct and each incorporated herein by reference and adopted as findings by the Santa Ana City Council (“City Council”).
SECTION 2. Section 9-16 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended to read in full as follows (new language is underlined and deleted language is stricken):
Sec. 9-16. - Outside employment.
(a) Employees in the competitive service shall not engage in any employment or sales or service outside of their regular city employment, except with the written approval of the department head and consistent with the city’s outside employment policy approved by the city manager or a policy adopted by the chief of police for employees in the police department . and consent of the city manager . Such
Ordinance No. NS-XXX
permission may be granted for intermittent or casual employment in sales, services or in connection with educational programs, if the request contains a statement as to the nature and frequency of the employment. The said application shall be denied by the department head or city manager if he or she the department head has the The policy shall include, but is not limited to, an assessment regarding whether there is reasonable cause to believe that such outside employment will be inconsistent, incompatible, in conflict, or interferes in any way with the proper performance of the duties as a city employee. Permission to engage in outside employment will be granted for a period not to exceed six (6) months and extensions may be granted by the department head for additional six -month periods. The personnel board may, upon request of the employee, review any action taken pursuant to the provisions of this section and repor t its findings to the city council and the city manager. (b) No employee of the City, whether part of the competitive service or excepted from competitive service, may engage in any outside employment involving Civil Immigration Enforcement.
(c) For purposes of this section “Civil Immigration Enforcement” means any and all employment, activity, enterprise, work, service, or counsel, performed for compensation, to investigate or assist in the investigation of, or to enforce or assist in the enforcement of, any civil immigration law against a natural person, which shall include, but is not limited to, the arrest, detention, transport, or deportation of an individual pursuant to civil immigration law, and any employment, activity, enterprise, work or service related to the detention or administrative confinement of a natural person while that person awaits a decision on their immigration status, potential removal, or potential deportation. Such civil immigration enforcement activity includes activity performed for, on behalf of, or under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or any other office, division, or component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as it is currently known or as its name may be amended from time to time, and includes such activity performed for a private entity or contractor performing such functions under federal authority.
(d) Armed forces exception. Subsection (b) shall not be construed to restrict, an employee’s service as a member of any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, including the California National Guard or other reserve component, performed pursuant to military orders or in the employee’s capacity as a service member, regardless of whether that service may include duties relating to Civil Immigration Enforcement.
SECTION 3. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phase, or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance, and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, Ordinance No. NS-XXX
subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases or portions might subsequently be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. CEQA Determination. The City Council finds that this Ordinance Amendment is not subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, pursuant to (Guidelines) Section 15060(c)(2) because the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment and 15060(c)(3) because the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly and so is not a project. The Ordinance Amendment is further not subject to CEQA as an organizational and admi nistrative activity of government under Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5).
SECTION 5. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days after its adoption.
SECTION 6. Publication. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same to be posted as required by law.
ADOPTED this ___ day of __________________, 2026.
_______________________
Valerie Amezcua
Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia R. Carvalho, City Attorney
_______________________________
Brandon Salvatierra
Assistant City Attorney
Ordinance No. NS-XXX
AYES: Councilmembers: ________________________________________
NOES: Councilmembers: ________________________________________
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers: ________________________________________
NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers: ________________________________________
CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, Jennifer L. Hall, City Clerk, do hereby attest to and certify the attached Ordinance No.
NS-XXXX to be the original ordinance adopted by the City Council of the City of Santa Ana on _________________, 2026.
Date: ________________ ____________________________________ City Clerk
City of Santa Ana