Santa Cruz County addresses immigration protection in wake of the election
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Following the election of Donald Trump, Santa Cruz County leaders are stepping up to assure the community’s undocumented population that they will be protected.
During this press conference today, local leaders from various sectors in Santa Cruz County are uniting to protect the rights and safety of immigrants in the community.
President-elect Donald Trump has been vocal about his stance on immigration.
“I will launch the largest deportation program in American history," Donald Trump president-elect said.
According to the Santa Cruz County 2020 Census Strategic Plan an estimated 19,500 undocumented immigrants live in the county.
"In my district, it's about 85% latino and a majority of latino immigrant community is in my district," Felipe Hernandez, Santa Cruz County Supervisor said. "I want to make sure that we do everything in our power and everything in our in our county resolutions and ordinances that we have, but also utilize all the state laws that apply to protecting immigrants."
Local leaders are making it clear that they are taking steps to ensure that their rights and safety are upheld.
"We know this is going to be difficult time for our community a lot of fear we are here to support you and will do everything in our power to to continue provide every service to our community," Carlos Palacios county administrative officer said.
County leaders emphasized they've been supportive of policies that protect immigrants such as the California value and Truth act.
"We have put into place additional protections through laws such as AB 69 which clarify and expand these rights. Schools are prohibited from collecting or sharing information about students immigration status or providing any assistance to immigration authorities in almost all circumstances," Faris Sabbah the county superintendent of schools said.
The Center for Farmworkers families says a mass deportation effort would have an impact on their efforts to distribute resources to farmworker families.
"As soon as we start getting information that the migrant is rounding up migrants, then for our distributions, we'll have to find multiple locations to have the distributions," Ann Lopez, executive director of the center for Farmworker Families said.
Some residents we heard from say they're concerned about a mass deportation plan being implemented.
"It's important that we know that they feel safe in the community and that they have the right to express themselves and be protected by our community and not have to live in fear of getting deported or getting in trouble for being a different color or a different race," Omar Dieguez Santa Cruz County said.
The county also previously passed a sanctuary resolution to protect people who are undocumented.
