Quick Take
As immigration raids and protests continue to escalate in Los Angeles and spread across the country, Santa Cruz County leaders say they are doing their best to keep residents’ fears at bay. Meanwhile, an ICE spokesperson tells Lookout: "There’s no secret that we’ll be out in the field.”
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As immigration raids and protests continue to escalate in Los Angeles and spread across the United States, deportation fears persist in Santa Cruz County, and local leaders say they are doing their efforts to keep residents’ fears at bay.
“It feels similar to what happened right after the inauguration,” said Dave Wilson, spokesperson and organizer for Your Allied Rapid Response (YARR) — a network of volunteers who monitor suspected immigration enforcement in Santa Cruz County.
Earlier this week, the organization saw an uptick in people posting false reports on social media that agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is in the community, said Wilson. On Tuesday, YARR received numerous calls from residents who were convinced that federal immigration officials were in Live Oak, he said. YARR volunteers investigated the reports and confirmed they were false, information the network posted to its social media accounts to reassure the community.
Wilson said he hasn’t heard about any potential immigration operations in the county. “If that changes, we will be the first to announce it,” he said.
ICE spokesperson Richard Beam told Lookout that immigration enforcement operations will be ongoing throughout the state of California, but could not confirm whether the agency has any plans to conduct arrests in Santa Cruz County. “There’s no secret that we’ll be out in the field,” Beam said. He said that as a courtesy, ICE will notify local law enforcement for safety reasons, and that it’s standard practice.
Watsonville Assistant Police Chief David Rodriguez told Lookout his department hasn’t received any information about potential immigration enforcement happening in the city, adding that it would be a surprise if the department was notified.
Rodriguez said there have been times when his department has been notified that ICE is in Watsonville; in other instances, officers find out through social media. “It is a preference of ours that we’re notified at the very least,” he said, adding that if the department ends up getting calls from the community, officers can have a general idea of what might be happening.
The Watsonville community is on high alert, Rodriguez said, and there have been instances of residents taking pictures of what they consider to be possible ICE activity and then posting them to social media platforms, which he said creates more fear and frenzy among the community.
Last week, someone posted a picture of a Watsonville police officer getting lunch at Santa Rosa Market, located on East Lake Avenue, to a neighborhood Facebook page, claiming the photo was of immigration officials in the area. Police were able to get the picture taken down before it created even more fear and concern in the community, said Rodriguez.
“We’re a resource for everyone here,” he said. “We want our community to still be comfortable, to trust us, to come to us when they need help. And we’re hoping that what’s going on in the news and what’s going on throughout the state is not a deterrent for our community.”
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to Lookout’s request for comment, and the Santa Cruz Police Department said no one was available for comment Wednesday.
In the handful of ICE arrests that have occurred in the county, each has targeted an individual and was not part of a larger operation, Wilson said. There are far more reports of immigration officials in the community than there are actual arrests, he added. “It’s really just the fear,” he said.
Religious leaders in Santa Cruz County are nonetheless taking precautionary measures this weekend. Ahead of a local weekend flea market in Watsonville, a group of faith leaders sent out an email calling for volunteers to attend the event to make vendors and consumers feel safe.
The email, shared with Lookout by a community member, noted that there have been “rumblings that ICE may start targeting gatherings” like the flea market for enforcement raids. The flea market also coincides with Saturday’s “No Kings” protest happening on the other side of Watsonville at the city plaza, as well as one happening in Santa Cruz.
Local protesters and governments are mounting their own response to the escalating situation in Los Angeles and the growing fears at home.
Santa Cruz residents took to the streets Wednesday afternoon to protest against the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and stand in solidarity with the immigrant community. Hector Marin, an educator with Santa Cruz City Schools, told Lookout that it’s important to show up for the community and advocate for their rights.
“We got to make sure that we keep that same energy and that we show out for undocumented folks when ICE comes through right here,” Marin said.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and Watsonville City Council each unanimously approved resolutions at their respective meetings Tuesday denouncing the use of military personnel against immigrant communities and protesters.
Both resolutions reaffirmed the governments’ commitments to support and protect the rights of all people, regardless of immigration status.
“The recent federal deployment of military force into California without a request from our state’s leadership has raised serious concerns across the country,” Watsonville Mayor Maria Orozco told Tuesday’s city council meeting. Orozco also called on other jurisdictions along the Central Coast to adopt a similar resolution.
The City of Watsonville also joined the current lawsuit against the Trump administration over threats to withhold federal resources from sanctuary cities. The City of Santa Cruz joined the same lawsuit back in February.
District 3 Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings told the board of supervisors meeting on Tuesday that it’s appalling to see the military being used against citizens, and that “it’s unheard of and unconscionable.” Cummings added that the focus should be on creating a pathway for people to have permanent residency, rather than trying to “sweep people up and disappear to other countries.”
In Watsonville, city councilmembers criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy nearly 4,000 California National Guard troops over the weekend and an additional 700 Marines on Monday, calling the actions unconstitutional and tiptoeing into fascism.
“This man is something different, and he ignores the rights of the states, he ignores the Constitution, he ignores our governor,” said Councilmember Ari Parker. “And I hope every single governor out there in all 50 states, or the other 49 are paying attention, because this is a litmus test for the United States.”
The Trump administration is trying to instill chaos in the lives of people, said Councilmember Jimmy Dutra. “People need to be treated with dignity and respect, and even if you’re undocumented, it doesn’t mean you’re less of a person,” he said.
Councilmember Vanessa Quiroz-Carter called on the community to take action and exercise their right to protest. “We can’t tiptoe, it’s here, and it’s going to stay, unless we are all hands on deck, unless all of us are together, regardless of your party, regardless of your beliefs, we need to come together.”
Nearly a dozen community members spoke out Tuesday night in support of Watsonville’s resolution, all echoing similar messages to stand together with the city’s immigrant population.
“I think the time is now to protect our families, protect our children, protect the unity, and really speak up for who we are as a city,” said June Padilla Ponce, executive director of the Watsonville Community Hospital Foundation. “Let’s work in partnership with other neighboring cities so that our voices are heard loud and clear throughout the state, to say that we stand behind our community.”
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FOR THE RECORD: This story was updated to remove some identifying information.
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