More From the OC

On January 28, we reported on how the City of Cosat Mmesa began making available immigration status information for prisioners detained by the city.  Here is more news from Costa Mesa. 

The arrest of Marcelino Tzir Tzul underscored the worst fears in Costa Mesa’s Latino community. The 37-year-old illegal immigrant from Guatemala was picked up for riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the street, brought before a federal agent at the city jail and then shipped to a federal lockup to await his likely deportation. For months, Latino activists had worried that Costa Mesa’s decision to become one of the nation’s first cities to enforce federal immigration laws would result in people such as Tzir being swept off the streets. “This is exactly what we feared,” said Amin David, who heads Los Amigos of Orange County, a Latino advocacy group. But others, including the mayor of Costa Mesa, applaud the crackdown, even if it means that people who have committed minor crimes are caught in the process. “I believe illegal immigration is wrong. It’s breaking the law,” said Mayor Allan Mansoor, an Orange County sheriff’s deputy.  Click here for the full story.

KJ