Watsonville businesses struggle as ICE raids and protests intensify across the country

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Weekends in Watsonville call for visiting the local flea markets organized by various churches around the city, places where community members can indulge in fresh carnitas tacos and savory menudo for breakfast or pick up crocheted sunflower keychains and other trinkets sold by vendors. 

But on Saturday, one such flea market — typically lively and full of customers —  felt empty. As customers walked around the church parking lot, they saw empty spots and fewer people shopping around in general. 

Religious leaders in Santa Cruz County had also put a call out last week for volunteers to attend the flea market to make vendors and attendees feel safe. The email, shared with Lookout by a community member, noted that there have been “rumblings that ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] may start targeting gatherings” like the flea market for enforcement raids.

There were no signs of immigration officials near the area of the market on Saturday. However, the empty stalls and sparse crowds reflect deepening fears in the community. As immigration raids and protests have continued to escalate in Los Angeles and across the United States, deportation worries have hit Watsonville businesses, its local flea markets and food distributions as community members are taking extra precautions to avoid being detained.

Jose Diaz, a vendor at one of the Saturday flea markets in Watsonville, said he noticed the change in business this weekend. Diaz sells toys and customizable cups, and was one of the first vendors people encountered as they entered the flea market. 

He was able to secure the prime spot near the entrance much more easily this weekend because various vendors didn’t show up, he said. 

“It’s slow today,” Diaz said. “There’s not a big crowd, either, and usually when people see a big crowd, it helps bring more people.” He told Lookout that he believes the small crowd at Saturday’s flea market is due to people not wanting to leave their homes out of fear that immigration officials might show up. 

Diaz said he understands his fellow community members who might be scared of being taken away from a life they’ve established here in Watsonville. “T​​here’s people that have been here for ages, for years, even generations, and then you could just take away your life.” 

Like other vendors at the flea market, Diaz had a stack of red cards sitting in his booth. The cards, written in Spanish, detail the rights of undocumented individuals, such as not opening the door if an immigration agent shows up. Diaz told Lookout that he was planning to pass them out to customers throughout the day. 

Just on the other side of town, Tomás Ortiz Rodriguez also has a stack of red cards sitting right in front of his cash register for customers to grab as they please. “I brought them so people can take them,” he said. “And a lot of people have been taking them. I have it here so people can have the information so they can defend themselves.” 

Ortiz Rodriguez owns Novedades San Miguel, located on Main Street in downtown Watsonville, said he’s also seen a decrease in customers over the past week. His shop is full of traditional Mexican clothing, religious statues and other trinkets.

“A lot of people don’t want to leave their home,” Ortiz Rodriguez said. On Sundays, Ortiz Rodriguez sells at the flea market at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, where he said he’s also seen a decrease in attendance and business amid the ongoing immigration raids across the country. 

“People are not going out because they are scared,” said Maria Flores, owner of Maria’s Dulceria and Party Supply located on East Beach Street in Watsonville. “And to be honest, social media is also creating that fear,” she said, referencing false ICE sightings being posted to online platforms, including at least one mistaking local law enforcement for immigration officials.

Flores’ business sits across the street from Watsonville’s City Plaza, and two Sundays ago — when immigration raids and protests continued to escalate in Southern California — she noticed something different: There were no people. That same plaza was filled with nearly 1,000 people this past weekend for the “No Kings” protest. 

“It looked like a ghost town,” she told Lookout in Spanish. “There were no cars, no people sitting at the benches.” 

It’s scary, Flores said, because her business is suffering because people are too scared to leave their homes, and that might lead to her struggling to pay rent, bills and food to eat. “Everyone is stressed out, and especially us business owners because we live off our clients purchasing our things,” she said. 

She’s used to having plenty of customers come and buy at her shop, and while she understands the friendly competition from other shops like Ortiz Rodriguez’s that sell similar things, Flores’ business has seen a further decline as deportation fears grow in the Watsonville community. 

“I hear and see what’s going on, and I even cry,” said Flores. “I try to not watch the news because of what I’m seeing.” Flores, who has legal status, is an immigrant from Michoácan, Mexico, and told Lookout she understands the struggle many of these families are facing. She added that some of her friends who are undocumented have stopped going out to dance and have fun because they don’t want to take that risk and possibly encounter immigration officials, Flores said. 

Deportation fears are not only affecting Watsonville’s local businesses, fewer agriculture workers are showing up to a monthly food and toiletries distribution put on by the Center for Farmworker Families in a community member’s backyard, and some express the need for extra precautionary measures as immigration enforcement operations continue. 

Last month, nonprofit organization Your Allied Rapid Response for Santa Cruz County confirmed an immigration arrest in Watsonville that was not tied to a large-scale raid, according to spokesperson and organizer Dave Wilson. Watsonville Assistant Police Chief David Rodriguez told Lookout last week that his department had not received any information about potential immigration enforcement happening in the city. 

Just before 2 p.m. on Friday, Center for Farmworker Families founder Ann Lopez walked down the line outside the distribution site just a few blocks from downtown Watsonville and announced to those waiting that “La migra no esta en la area,” which in English translates to “Immigration is not in the area.” Lopez said she had checked in with Watsonville police prior to the distribution to see if they’d heard of any immigration officials in the vicinity as a precaution. 

Lopez said she saw a visible change in a lot of workers’ faces when she made the announcement; many were able to relax and feel safe as they awaited their turn. “They can at least breathe today,” she said. 

This month’s distribution saw lower attendance compared to previous ones. By 3 p.m. the line was empty, and there was still plenty of food and supplies left for people to grab. Lopez said it’s possible that people were still working in the fields and weren’t able to make the distribution in time, but she believes that many of the workers who benefit from the distributions are too scared to venture out to a site that some fear could be the target of federal immigration officials. 

“They’re just afraid,” said Lopez. “There’s a vibration of panic going through the community.” 

While waiting in line for the distribution, Elizabeth told Lookout that she wishes the organization would find a way to mitigate risks for herself and others attending the monthly events in case immigration officials targeted the site, like making already pre-packaging items. Since they have to wait in line outside the distribution site — sometimes for at least 30 minutes — Elizabeth believes it makes them an easy target for immigration agents. Lookout is choosing to not include Elizabeth’s last name due to her immigration status. 

Elizabeth currently works in a plant nursery in Watsonville, where she and her coworkers try to focus on their jobs and not talk about immigration to ease the nerves, she said. They used to play music on the radio as they worked, but not anymore. 

“We don’t turn on the radio anymore because we don’t want to have that stress and fear,” Elizabeth said. She and her coworkers want to listen for the sounds of ICE agents, in case they target their work site, and they wouldn’t be able to do that with the radio playing. 

In February, following Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Center for Farmworker Families had packaged all the toiletries and food into bags so individuals could just grab them and go home safely. Lopez said organizers haven’t gone back to that system because there hasn’t been a large presence of ICE officials in Watsonville. 

“I’m hoping that here in Watsonville there won’t be any raids,” said Steve Herrera, a Center for Farmworker Families board member. “I mean, it could still happen, but there’s always a sense of anxiety about what could happen. He said the nonprofit is working to find ways to make its distributions more efficient so people can pick up what they need and leave quickly.

If distributions need to be canceled due to safety concerns or ICE potentially being in Watsonville, Lopez said the nonprofit will try to meet migrant workers at their homes and deliver food and toiletries to them. “We’ll find a way to do it,” Lopez said. “Farmworkers are not going to be deprived over my dead body.” 

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