Benita Rivera moved to San Fernando in 1960, and over the decades that followed she watched her kids grow up, welcomed grandchildren and witnessed her city grow. But some recent changes have taken her by surprise – notably, the support she sees among some community members for the current administration’s punitive immigration policies.
That’s why Rivera attended the City of San Fernando’s “Information and Conversation on Immigration,” which held small roundtable discussions, a question-and-answer panel presentation and representatives from community, health care and immigrant agencies.
“ I’m going to tell you the truth – I don’t have any [immigration] problems,” said Rivera about her own immigration status, speaking with the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol during the Aug. 31 event at Las Palmas Park in San Fernando. “At least, I don’t think I do, but with this president we have, you never know, because even people who were born here have been [deported]. That’s why I came tonight – to listen, to [learn] … because this information is important for everyone.”
Cristina Moreno, social services coordinator for the City of San Fernando, said their goal was to provide a “bridge from community members to [resource] organizations” and information, so they can “walk away feeling empowered … with that assurance that we’re one community.”
Some of the resource organizations who provided information included the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Home Again LA, Resilient Therapy, El Centro de Amistad, Latinx Therapy and the LA Unified School District.
Participants anonymously submitted questions for the six-member panel. One of the top questions they addressed: How can people avoid immigration scams?
“I want to make sure that everyone in the room is aware that only an attorney and an accredited representative is able to give someone legal advice; a notario [notary] or immigration consultant [can’t],” warned Haidy Juarez, a program manager for the LA County Office of Immigration Affairs. She said that often desperate individuals end up trusting the wrong people based on a friend’s recommendation that someone they know helped them out for very little money.
Some notarios will take people’s money and never deliver on their promises to complete or submit immigration forms on their behalf or lie about what type of relief an undocumented individual is eligible for, said Juarez, noting that sometimes their offices disappear overnight.
Even some licensed attorneys are taking advantage of people who are feeling scared, she added.
“Our immigrant communities are especially vulnerable, and, quite frankly, there are vultures who are taking advantage of these situations,” said Juarez. She recommends contacting her office if someone believes a licensed attorney was negligent in their case, and seeking recommendations for trusted legal providers from CARECEN, CHIRLA, other community groups or the county.
Meeting participants received bilingual information booklets outlining family preparedness – including what to do if immigration agents show up at the front door; selecting a caregiver to be ready in the event parents are detained or deported; and securing copies of important documents.
During the evening’s small group discussions, some participants said they attended the event to get information for their loved ones. One woman picked up an extra booklet for her undocumented sister, who has two daughters. Her sister has friends or relatives take the girls to school – to limit her time in public to avoid possible interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents – but hasn’t picked a caregiver or made a family plan yet.
Though Rivera doesn’t have close friends or relatives who are undocumented, she knows several people who do, and she wanted to learn as much as possible to pass along the information. Especially, she noted, for those too fearful to attend an immigration-related event in person.
“What makes me most sad is that there are people who are from here, or have been living here in the U.S. for a long time, and they don’t care anymore what happens to anyone else,” she said. “I know a girl who told me that when they came to the U.S. they came with a coyote, and now she’s a big supporter of this president. How is that possible? We should all be supporting each other.”