The Trump presidency and Santa Cruz County

UC Santa Cruz history professor Grace Peña Delgado is writing a chronicle of the U.S.-Mexico border and in the summer, she and Lookout photographer Kevin Painchaud spent time documenting stories at one Arizona spot along the border, a place locals call the “End-of-the-wall,” because it’s where 34 miles of steel columns dividing the land abruptly end. Building barriers won’t stop immigration, she writes: “Robust climate action, economic investment in vulnerable areas and more expansive legal pathways for asylum-seekers offer a more sustainable path than building walls that funnel families into even deadlier routes.”

Ben Lomond resident, businessman and local political activist Tom Decker celebrated Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday. In the fall, Decker wore a Donald Trump hat for two months around Santa Cruz County, hoping to engage in conversations about policy. He expected opposition, but mostly he found tacit support. Now that Trump is the 47th president, Decker outlines three Trump policies he supports – on immigration, taxes and oil – and says we should all feel good about our future.