Coalition presses Pomona City Council to be a sanctuary city for migrants

Members of the ICE Out of Pomona coalition presented a written document to the Pomona City Council requesting authorities to protect the undocumented community, which they believe is being harassed by President Donald Trump's immigration policies.

During the City Council session held this Monday night, the protesters asked authorities to take extraordinary measures to protect migrants.

James Gutierrez, a member of the coalition, said the document has 15 points. Among the initiatives is the establishment of a Rapid Response Network, as well as a petition to educate the undocumented community about their rights and a call to the Pomona Police to avoid collaborating with ICE.

“We have made the number, (909) 361-4588, available to the community, a Rapid Response Network, to report the presence of ICE on the streets, so that our people can go out to confirm the raids,” said Gutierrez.

This Monday afternoon, through its social networks, the coalition reported and corroborated the presence of ICE in the Inland Empire. According to the message issued, it read: ¨We have been able to confirm the presence of ICE today 2/24/2025 at 6:30 p.m. in Ontario. 10 FWY Eastbound, past the Heaven exit”.

The Coalition requests authorities to instruct migrants about their rights, he said, as he believes there is a lack of knowledge about them. “According to one of the initiatives, we request that the community be trained and informed about their role in ensuring confidentiality and safety for undocumented immigrants as well as what immigration enforcement can and can not do,” explained James Gutierrez.

Destiny Rivera, who is also a member of the coalition, asked the City Council to ensure that police officers do not act aggressively with young people in schools, and also considered that there is racial profiling when enforcing the law.

“Since Pomona is a sanctuary city, we ask the police to stay away from migration policies,” he said.

For his part, Councilman Victor Preciado mentioned that through the letter received, the 

members of the collective seek to confirm that Pomona authorities continue to be a sanctuary city and not provide any resources to support the migration policies of President Donald Trump.

He said he is proud that the immigrant community is coming out and protesting in favor of their rights. Likewise, he mentioned that it is time to be united as a society, as there has also been information about raids on Asian communities.

“We must strengthen ourselves as a society...let's remember that at one point in U.S. history there was white slavery, but they gained rights and the strength of the movement diminished. In Boston, the Irish community was also oppressed. It is not only a question of racism or nationality, but society, poor against rich in order to maintain power groups,” Preciado explained.

Regarding the document received, he said that they will analyze its content and work on the city’s  concerns, since there are points that involve the Pomona Unified School District or the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center and these bodies have their own board of directors.

“What we have done is to provide information workshops on the rights of migrants and also training on what to do in case ICE comes to your door,” he said.

The councilman mentioned that another of the points discussed in the letter is pushing local law enforcement to establish a moratorium on DUI checkpoints during the times that immigration enforcement is active in our community. He mentioned that currently there are no DUI checkpoints and that it is important not to criminalize a citizen for a traffic offense, as this should not be enough to put someone in deportation proceedings.