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October 21, 2025 Mayor Amezcua and City Councilmembers 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 ecommentg,Santa-ana. org Via Email RE: Item 17 — Ayuda Sin Fronteras Program — Tenant Assistance Update Mayor Amezcua and Members of the Santa Ana City Council, On behalf of Chispa, we urge the City Council (Council) to continue the Ayuda sin Fronteras Program (Program) with an additional allocation of $500,000 to $900,000—with at least $500,000—being allocated for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. It is imperative that the City of Santa Ana (City) expand financial support and relief for residents impacted by recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration raids and actions. The show of force by these agencies on Sunday, October 19 as they kidnapped Santa Ana residents of our City streets is only the beginning, the need for your support to expand the Program is urgent and dire as we expect the attack on Santa Ana's immigrant community to increase in the coming days and months. Since its launch in July 2025, the Program has proven to be a lifeline for City families impacted by the immigration raids who are struggling to pay for housing, utilities, or afford basic necessities such as groceries. With 101 households and 198 individuals already assisted, the need for expanded emergency aid remains urgent and growing. At the time of its approval the Council expressed uncertainty over the level of community need or willingness to apply, there should be no uncertainty now. The Program's funds were exhausted in about 3 months, with many households being unable to apply because there were no additional Program resources and others still awaiting a status update on their applications. Program awareness has increased since July and the need has only grown, we can say with certainty that any additional funding will be quickly spent down by the Program and any uncertainty this Council had on this Program has been addressed. We urge the Council to increase funding for the Program by at least $500,000 to ensure continued support through the rest of the fiscal year. We encourage the Council to return to their original $1 million proposal by identifying funds from the City's $74 million reserve fund, as previously recommended on the dais by members of the Council. Expanding the fund would reflect the true scale of community need and reaffirm the City's commitment to standing by immigrant families during this difficult time.