California legislators met with nonprofit leaders representing organizations in the San Fernando Valley and beyond to discuss mounting fears about immigration enforcement amid reports of a possible large-scale Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Los Angeles before the end of the month.
California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Assemblymembers Celeste Rodriguez, Mark Gonzalez and Juan Carrillo held a roundtable Feb. 7 at the Boys and Girls Club of San Fernando Valley in Pacoima with representatives of nonprofits that serve immigrants, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and about two dozen others.
“The thing I want [people] to know is that the attack is [not just] against the immigrants themselves and their families; what’s actually happening is they’re attacking the infrastructure,” explained Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA. “They’re taking away resources that allow us to go to the detention centers, that allow us to actually represent the people.
“If you have a grant from the federal government, then that’s a way for them to encroach on you,” Salas continued, noting that such grants include funds provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to groups that help immigrants become naturalized citizens.
Salas said CHIRLA received correspondence from USCIS directing them to cease all of their citizenship work – “to stop immediately,” said Salas.
“They say they’re not [going after] documented immigrants, but what they don’t want is for [immigrants] to become citizens,” she said. “All of these organizations here are the target of this administration … [and] it’s happening across the country. … They want to disempower us.”
“At the state level, at the federal level and the local levels – it’s going to take all of us to deal with this massive threat and attack on our people [and our organizations],” added Sandra Diaz, political director for SEIU United Service Workers West. “We’re looking for bold leadership that does not waver … [to] build a resistance and a movement that [supports] all immigrants.”
California Responds
“There’s been such a radical change and shift in federal policy related immigration because of the Trump administration’s approach [to seeking] mass deportations,” Rivas told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol. “There’s so much fear across the country, but also here in California, and so our approach here was just to listen, to learn about what is happening, what people are experiencing on the ground in real time here in Los Angeles, and, more importantly, how we can help address their needs when it comes to supporting our residents and their families.”
Some of those needs may be aided in part by a legislative funding package signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, which earmarks $50 million to help protect the state from expected legal challenges by the Trump administration and to help defend undocumented immigrants.
The funding will be split, with $25 million directed to the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta for litigation, and $25 million to legal aid for individuals facing possible deportation.
“We’ve heard about quotas, and quotas go beyond any pretend narrative that this is only about deporting criminals,” said Rodriguez, adding that if immigration enforcement agencies are using or begin to implement and enforce quotas for detentions and deportations, then racial profiling, detaining law-abiding residents and splitting apart families will likely increase exponentially.
To help safeguard children part of immigrant and mixed-status families, Rodriguez introduced her first bill since formally taking office in December: AB 495, dubbed the Family Safety Plan Act. The proposed legislation would ensure that families create plans that include affidavits of care identifying an individual who will care for their child if their parent(s) is ever detained.
“My own dad watched his grandmother be taken, and he was left alone on the porch of a neighbor in Pacoima and cried until he fell asleep,” she said. “This is traumatic for our children.
“If they keep threatening these ICE raids and follow through … our kids are going to be at daycare or at school when it happens. [Having] a family safety plan means there are affidavits of care and other things families are going to need in the event they are taken. We want to make sure every child care provider and educational institution is prepared [with that] information.”
Taking Action
Salas and other roundtable participants discussed the importance of community-based “rapid response networks,” especially in light of the anticipated increase in immigration enforcement operations. The LA Rapid Response Network is connected to an estimated 90 organizations, who act as “first responders” when someone calls the hotline to report suspected ICE activity. The first step is to verify the report.
Salas said the rapid response teams, which date back to the era of President George W. Bush, consist of lawyers and organizers who go to the sites of ICE activity and detention centers, to take video and photographic evidence of any violations of due process and to provide legal aid.
“We need more regions in Los Angeles County to be activated, [because] it’s so huge,” said Salas, noting that the more people that are active on each rapid response network, the more “we know about what’s happening region by region, and the better we can activate in response.”
Another component that remains critical is “reaching out to immigrants directly to share information and resources” – at their workplaces, in their homes and via their places of worship, said Diaz. Within three days, her chapter of the SEIU reached out to workers at 534 work sites.
“Our community is hungry for information,” she said. “You can hear a pin drop when we’re saying, ‘These are your rights – exercise them. These are the resources that you can access.’”
To reach the LA Rapid Response Network hotline, call 1-888-624-4752.