The Trump presidency and Santa Cruz County

The 35 faith organizations that make up the Santa Cruz Faith Network cannot remain silent in the face of newly reelected President Donald J. Trump’s plans to deport undocumented immigrants, writes Pastor Scott Newman, a member of the group and a pastor at Santa Cruz Bible Church. “As faith leaders,” he writes, “we commit ourselves to educating those affected about their rights and to help them find ways to protect their families.”

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.”