Several Santa Cruz County leaders, including Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah, reaffirmed their support for immigrants Thursday in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential election. (Jesse Kathan — Santa Cruz Local)

SANTA CRUZ >> Dozens of elected officials and community leaders from Santa Cruz County gathered on the steps of Santa Cruz County Superior Court on Thursday to pledge their support for undocumented residents following the election of former President Donald Trump.

Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, potentially through National Guard raids. He has said he would use the Alien Enemies Act — a federal law from the 1700s last invoked during World War II to incarcerate U.S. citizens of Japanese, German and Italian descent — to hasten the deportation of alleged gang members. Trump also said he wanted to deny birthright citizenship to children of people who settled in the United States illegally.

In response to his campaign victory, 35 leaders in Santa Cruz County on Thursday signed and distributed a document to the media to “reaffirm our commitment to supporting all immigrants in our community.”

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart signed it along with police chiefs from the cities of Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley. Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley and Santa Cruz County Supervisors Felipe Hernandez and Justin Cummings were among the signatories, as were school district leaders, state representatives and Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell.

“A relationship of trust between immigrants and local agencies, including law enforcement and first responders, schools, and hospitals, is essential to carrying out the basic functions of our community and assuring that all residents feel safe and healthy, and have access to the resources necessary to help make our community a better place for all,” the document stated.

“Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office does not honor immigration holds when sent to local custody facilities,” Thursday’s letter stated. “Immigration officials are not allowed in our schools, county jails or medical and mental healthcare facilities.” It added, “We will remain vigilant and ensure transparency should any immigration enforcement action be conducted within our community without our support.”

Prior to Trump’s first term, many law enforcement leaders in Santa Cruz County said they do not check residents’ immigration status in part because they need cooperation to solve crimes and gather information. Santa Cruz County leaders on Thursday reaffirmed their stance against federal immigration holds in county jail.

Santa Cruz County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios pledged his support at Thursday’s gathering. 

“We know this is going to be a very difficult time for our community,” Palacios said. “I know there’s going to be a lot of fear. We are here to let you know that we support you. We will do everything in our power to continue to provide every service that we can to our community,” he said.

‘Should I send my kids to school?’

Trump also talked about mass deportations at the onset of his first term in 2017. In response, Santa Cruz County supervisors in January 2017 adopted a resolution that declared that the county would not expend resources to enforce federal immigration laws. City leaders in Santa Cruz and Watsonville instituted similar rules. 

In February 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided alleged members of an El Salvador-based gang in Santa Cruz, Live Oak and Capitola. During the raids, federal agents also detained several undocumented residents who were not suspected of gang involvement, a move criticized by the Santa Cruz police chief at the time. 

Later in 2017, the California legislature adopted a law that limits the ability of police and sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

During Trump’s first term, deportations did not happen on the scale he described. But the administration’s immigration rhetoric had other effects in Santa Cruz County. 

Adam Spickler, a senior analyst for Santa Cruz County’s Human Services Department, said the county saw a marked drop in applications for Medi-Cal and CalFresh during the first Trump administration. He attributes that drop to fear from non-citizens that applying for welfare would make them vulnerable to potential deportation.

By state law, applying for or using public assistance doesn’t affect a person’s chances of gaining citizenship or legal residence. But the national climate around immigration had “a chilling effect,” he said.

Some immigrants “were afraid to call into the police department,” said MariaElena de la Garza, executive director of Community Action Board. “They were afraid. I remember getting calls and people asking, ‘Should I send my kids to school?’” Community Action Boards plans to hold know-your-rights workshops for people who entered the country illegally, she said.

Community Action Board Executive Director MariaElena de la Garza holds up a card with legal rights for people approached by immigration enforcement officials. Community Action Board plans to distribute thousands of the cards, she said. (Jesse Kathan — Santa Cruz Local)

Faris Sabbah, Santa Cruz County superintendent of schools, said local schools “stand ready to support and protect our students.”

Sabbah said, “Every child has a right to receive a free public education without discrimination, reprisal or fear, regardless of immigration status, race or gender identity.” He added in an interview, “We don’t want to see what we’ve seen in the past, where parents are reluctant to send their students to school or to health centers because they’re concerned that maybe information is going to be shared with immigration court.”

Sabbah said he’s heard concerns from immigrant families, including those with legal residence, about the intensity of anti-immigrant messaging on display during the presidential campaign. “That’s something that the community is concerned about, is wanting to know, if this is really just rhetoric, or if it’s going to turn into action.”

De la Garza said her tears on election night turned to purpose by Thursday.

“What I can tell you today is I have been activated,” de la Garza said. “I and everybody I work with, and the partners at the table are activated — and that gives me hope.”

De la Garza said “the rhetoric has been louder, the hate has been stronger.” But with strong local support, and local- and state-level sanctuary laws, “We’re ready in a way that we weren’t in 2016,” she said.

Though a 2017 executive order threatened to withhold federal dollars from “sanctuary jurisdictions,” a federal court ultimately found the rule unconstitutional.

Hernandez said he’s interested in supplementing the county’s sanctuary resolution with a county law that has more specific and enforceable language. Hernandez represents District 4, which includes large parts of Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley, and the majority of its residents are Latino.

Farmworkers in South County “are the backbone of our economy,” Herndandez said. “They are the backbone of putting food on the table for the rest of the United States. I want to make sure that we do everything in our power to make sure that people don’t live in fear.”

Residents react

In a straw poll of some South County residents in Watsonville on Thursday, some said they were not worried about the election and that they hoped the Trump presidency would help the local economy.

“I think that right now the president’s priorities would lie beyond the immigration issue,” said Watsonville resident Jaime Daniel Mora, in Spanish.

Alejandro de la Torre, a 66-year-old street vendor, said he didn’t believe Trump would carry out the mass deportations of people who entered the country illegally.

“It would cost him a lot,” he said. “They’re going to stay here and they’re going to work in the fields.”

Still, the anti-immigrant rhetoric “bothers me,” de la Torre said. “Yes, it scares me,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Fidel M. Soto contributed to this report. 

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