Irvine Residents and Students Join Forces to Reject Trump-Inspired “Hate Circus” and Defend CA Sanctuary Law

(Media Advisory) Students from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and residents of the city will join forces at the Irvine City Council meeting this evening, to reject what they view as a “Trump-inspired attack on minorities in Orange County.”

“Will Irvine’s city council side with a racist agenda that separates families and dehumanizes people of color? Enough is enough. Irvine city council needs to make clear whether they stand with Trump’s hatred, or they stand with their own community in Irvine,” said Catherine Tran, who is a third year Asian American Studies Major. “We need our city council to say NO to hate, and be an example, for our youth, for our county, and yes for the rest of the country.”

Irvine’s mayor is the latest Orange County politician to utilize his city platform in a political stunt to endorse Trump’s anti-immigrant, anti-sanctuary message. The orchestrated campaign, led by white supremacist group “FAIR”, has been coordinated with the Trump administration’s assault on California’s sanctuary law, the CA Values Act (SB54), which rejects the use of local/state resources for mass deportations.

“Immigrants today are facing rising hate crimes and vitriol. Mayor Wagner needs to understand that endorsing this hateful agenda means he is enabling this despicable worldview that says we don't belong. We know that all immigrants are a part of our community – documented and undocumented alike – and whether you’re on campus or in our neighborhoods. One in ten of our neighbors in Orange County is undocumented. And UCI is proud to be one of the campuses with the highest number of undocumented students,” added Tran.

The mayor’s political stunt, six weeks from the midterms, is merely symbolic as the CA Values Act, enacted with a near super-majority in the state legislature, is state law. Still, community advocates made clear that now is no time for local officials to be enabling extremists or policies that separate families.

WHEN: TODAY, September 25th at 5:00pm

WHERE: Irvine City Hall, 1 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine, CA 92606