Santa Ana City Council members on Tuesday voted to move forward with a program that would create an alert system to notify residents before federal immigration sweeps. 

After an hours-long meeting, which included a lengthy public comment section, members will now learn more about the system and any possible implications that may stem from it. 

Santa Ana is Orange County's only sanctuary city, meaning that they will not offer resources to federal immigration efforts, which is why council members Johnathan Hernandez and Benjamin Vazquez proposed directing the city's police department to notify residents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, activity happening in the city within 48 hours of their receipt of federal notification. 

"Our police department received 42 notifications of ICE contacts in our community," Hernandez said. "Those communications come well in advance. This is an opportunity for us to build trust with our community."

They proposed that notifications be posted on social media and the city's website, similar to how they alert residents about other incidents. The exact details that they would be sharing, however, remain unclear.

"The city has to be transparent. We have to make sure we give all the information that we do have so people feel safe knowing that they can work with us," said Vazquez. 

Their proposal comes after immigration activists say that there were raids earlier in the year. They allege that city leaders knew of the raids, but didn't disclose them to the public. 

"The reason why we're all here today is because of the lack of leadership in this city," said Ray Diaz, an advocate with the Francisco Torres Center for Racial Justice.

Congressman Lou Correa, who represents the area, says that he supports notifications, but that he's worried about the potential repercussions. 

"The last thing you wanna do is have the city of Santa Ana get caught up in some legal wrangling and that President Trump or Homeland Security come in and say we're yanking your federal dollars because you're in violation," he said while speaking with CBS News Los Angeles. 

Santa Ana Police Department officials say that while the department does not cooperate with ICE, they're not allowed to use resources to impede with federal law enforcement activity. 

The council will have to vote on the ordinance twice before it becomes official.