The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ICIJ) is suing Fontana’s Mayor, Acquanetta Warren, for her policies against street vendors that violate California’s laws to protect them.
ICIJ is a coalition of more than 35 organizations that serve immigrant communities in the Inland Empire. Over the past ten years, this cooperative nonprofit has supported immigrants with legal services, millions of dollars in grants, workshops, and a hotline to report and track immigrant arrests and violations.
They also specialize in policy change.
Recently, they advocated for state legislation, SB 627, the No Secret Police Act, to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from concealing their faces during certain work. The act aims to increase accountability and transparency for ICE agents who have been seen assaulting the people they apprehend. Governor Gavin Newsom passed it, and it will be implemented in July 2026.
The next venture of this nonprofit continues its activism in policy change. They are partnering with vendors and taking legal action against Fontana’s mayor, Warren, for her policies regarding street vendors.
ICIJ is passionate about fighting for street vendors. Street vendors are people, usually Latine immigrants, who sell cultural and affordable foods in streets, parks, and at community events. The nonprofit’s website calls them “experts of their hustle and craft” who are trying “to help make ends meet for their families.”
In early September, the Executive Director of the organization, Javier Hernandez, published an article in the Inland Empire Community News, a physical and online newspaper based in San Bernardino, California, detailing the reasoning and facts behind the lawsuit.
Hernandez claims that Warren has been passing legislation that harms street vendors for over a decade, choosing to “demonize working people and stand with big business interests” and push street vendors out of the city.
In 2018, California passed SB 946, the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act, which decriminalized street vending. ICIJ contends that Fontana’s policies violate this state law.
Law enforcement greatly impacts the businesses of street vendors. These entrepreneurs face verbal, physical, and financial harassment from law enforcement. Officers often administer fines that can devastate these small businesses.
Street vendors also face persecution from potential buyers. A resident of Fontana, Karina Garcia, said, “I noticed a difference in how many vendors were out on the street. As well as the menus facing change as well. A lot of things had been removed, with only limited items to choose from.”
Now, with the rise of ICE, street vendors are being singled out by another governmental agency. Many street vendors have been targeted by ICE for physical abuse, arrests, and deportations.
ICIJ is a co-sponsor organization for SB 635, the Street Vendor Protection Act. This act would prevent ICE and other federal agencies from accessing the private data of street vendors. This data includes their names, addresses, and documentation statuses. Currently, the bill is waiting to be considered by Newsom.
In the meantime, street vendors have been tracking ICE’s location to avoid the agency’s officers. One way that some of the Fontana street vendors are keeping up with ICE’s location is an app called ICEBlock.
Joshua Aaron is the creator of the app. It was created to help people know if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are near.
The app was released in April. It currently has about twenty thousand users, most of whom are in Los Angeles, where many ICE kidnappings have been taking place.
With the app, users can pinpoint any location to let others be aware of the fact that ICE has been spotted there. It does not take any personal information or data from users.
It was just created as a tool to help out others and to keep them safe. Aaron told Cable News Network (CNN), “When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to fight back,” Aaron told CNN.
Live reports on social media are another way that Fontana and other Inland Empire residents can stay informed. People and organizations like ICIJ have been utilizing this tool. They will post to apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok groups to alert others that the agency has been spotted. Many post daily.