Soledad unanimously designated as a Sanctuary City

This week Soledad City Council defied President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and passed a resolution on a unanimous 5-0 vote, designating Soledad as a Sanctuary City.

“We realized that government is for the people, not people for the government,” said Soledad Mayor Fred Ledesma.

Soledad joins the ranks of U.S. cities to welcome people who are in the country without permission.

In passing the resolution, the City was seeking to “memorialize and clearly articulate” its commitment to Soledad’s immigrant community, and seeking to create an environment where immigrant families do not have to be in fear that the City is working in conjunction with federal immigration authorities. This essentially means Soledad won’t enforce federal immigration laws against people who are here illegally.

“Our citizens can rest assure that our local police and officials are not going to go out of their way to run raids or to ask people about their immigration status,” said Ledesma.

Ledesma said the town has a long history of immigrants from Europe, Switzerland, the Philippines and Mexico, all who were and still are vital to the towns economy and culture.

“Our community is about 80% of Mexican American, Mexican population,” said Ledesma. “So it’s kind of hypocritical for me as an elected official knowing that my grandparents came from Mexico to say well now it was good for us, but not good for you now.”

The Mayor said the designation could cause Soledad to lose about $1.5 million in federal funding.

“I honestly don’t think it’s gonna happen,” said Soledad resident Rubin Galvin. ‘But we’ll have to work around it.”

Some Soledad residents oppose the new title, while others said the city’s stance sends a positive message.

“I think some of these people deserve to be treated right,” said Galvan.

“I don’t think it’s a good or bad idea,” said Juan Amaro of Soledad. “I heard that it could be called a sanctuary city, but I don’t think it really stops the government from getting involved.”

Currently the cities of Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Soledad have declared themselves sanctuary cities.

Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, Salinas and Greenfield have passed resolutions formally committing to be fair and lawful to all citizens regardless of their status.

The city also says by becoming one of the first cities in Monterey County to authorize Sanctuary City designation, it’s looking to other cities to take a similar step to support the region’s immigrant community.

The City of Soledad, also known as the gateway to the Pinnacles, is located in the center of the Salinas Valley next to Highway 101.