Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency -ICE- as well as their supporters is doing their best to educate the huddled masses.
ICE is wanting to move their current facility into Santa Maria and out of the Lompoc Federal Prison in an effort to obtain more space as well as better conditions for the detainees.
However, it seems that Chicken Little has come to town, armed with a megaphone to spread misinformation, which in turn, sows the seeds of fear.
Los Angeles-based lawyer Christina Fialho said she’s concerned about negative impacts that would come to Santa Maria should the office open.
Fialho, a former resident of Santa Maria who co-founded the national group Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement, said she’s worried that the center could serve to extend the amount of time the local ICE operation could detain people. Because the Lompoc office operates out of old trailers inside the penitentiary grounds, they can’t keep people for very long.
She pointed to the decline of Adelanto after an ICE facility opened there saying, "There are no high schools, the elementary schools are failing, there are no after-school programs … instead it's a hub for mass incarceration."
Nonetheless, the city council took the first step toward approving the move at its last meeting despite protests that drew in more than 500 people.
As for comparing what's going on in Adelanto to what might happen in Santa Maria, it's apples and oranges considering that Adelanto sits in the Mojave Desert, as opposed to the rich agricultural lands found in the Santa Maria Valley.
CAUSE organizer Hazel Davalos says, "Thirty-six percent of the Santa Maria population is immigrants. Some are documented and some are not, but that is a third of our community that's generally opposed of having ICE here. There is still a memory in the community when raids happened."
She adds that if ICE moves in, many immigrants will live in fear.
Agriculture is a very big deal in these here parts and is a very big part of the city's economy. The Santa Maria Valley is home to an ever increasing number of vineyards, wineries and winemakers.
The agricultural areas found here are some of the most productive in California, with primary crops including strawberries, wine grapes, celery, lettuce, peas, squash, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli and beans.
As a result, the growers who own these lands have very deep pockets and are extremely important to the Santa Maria economy.
The majority of the work force in agriculture is primarily immigrant. It's difficult back-breaking work that no one else wants to do.
There is absolutely no way ICE is going to round up this workforce. Growers storming city hall or the ICE offices is decidedly scarier than protestors waving flags.
According to Santa Maria City Manager Rick Haydon, the agency's mission has changed. He says, "They are now under the Department of Homeland Security and their primary mission is to protect the homeland."
Just about every day, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County Jails, as well as the SLO Men's Colony, Lompoc Federal Prison and local police holding cells send a list of all foreign-born detainees who have completed their sentences to ICE.
ICE agents go to these facilities to interview the detainees. The level of crime committed by a person with a green card determines whether that person should be deported based on their criminal history. If for example, they have committee a felony, they will be deported. Misdemeanors could lead to deportation if there are several.
Undocumented people who do not commit felonies or repeated misdemeanors should not worry about the presence of ICE.
The next meeting to discuss the proposed ICE facility will be at the Santa Maria Fair Park on February 5.
ICE is wanting to move their current facility into Santa Maria and out of the Lompoc Federal Prison in an effort to obtain more space as well as better conditions for the detainees.
However, it seems that Chicken Little has come to town, armed with a megaphone to spread misinformation, which in turn, sows the seeds of fear.
Los Angeles-based lawyer Christina Fialho said she’s concerned about negative impacts that would come to Santa Maria should the office open.
Fialho, a former resident of Santa Maria who co-founded the national group Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement, said she’s worried that the center could serve to extend the amount of time the local ICE operation could detain people. Because the Lompoc office operates out of old trailers inside the penitentiary grounds, they can’t keep people for very long.
She pointed to the decline of Adelanto after an ICE facility opened there saying, "There are no high schools, the elementary schools are failing, there are no after-school programs … instead it's a hub for mass incarceration."
Nonetheless, the city council took the first step toward approving the move at its last meeting despite protests that drew in more than 500 people.
As for comparing what's going on in Adelanto to what might happen in Santa Maria, it's apples and oranges considering that Adelanto sits in the Mojave Desert, as opposed to the rich agricultural lands found in the Santa Maria Valley.
CAUSE organizer Hazel Davalos says, "Thirty-six percent of the Santa Maria population is immigrants. Some are documented and some are not, but that is a third of our community that's generally opposed of having ICE here. There is still a memory in the community when raids happened."
She adds that if ICE moves in, many immigrants will live in fear.
Agriculture is a very big deal in these here parts and is a very big part of the city's economy. The Santa Maria Valley is home to an ever increasing number of vineyards, wineries and winemakers.
The agricultural areas found here are some of the most productive in California, with primary crops including strawberries, wine grapes, celery, lettuce, peas, squash, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli and beans.
As a result, the growers who own these lands have very deep pockets and are extremely important to the Santa Maria economy.
The majority of the work force in agriculture is primarily immigrant. It's difficult back-breaking work that no one else wants to do.
There is absolutely no way ICE is going to round up this workforce. Growers storming city hall or the ICE offices is decidedly scarier than protestors waving flags.
According to Santa Maria City Manager Rick Haydon, the agency's mission has changed. He says, "They are now under the Department of Homeland Security and their primary mission is to protect the homeland."
Just about every day, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County Jails, as well as the SLO Men's Colony, Lompoc Federal Prison and local police holding cells send a list of all foreign-born detainees who have completed their sentences to ICE.
ICE agents go to these facilities to interview the detainees. The level of crime committed by a person with a green card determines whether that person should be deported based on their criminal history. If for example, they have committee a felony, they will be deported. Misdemeanors could lead to deportation if there are several.
Undocumented people who do not commit felonies or repeated misdemeanors should not worry about the presence of ICE.
The next meeting to discuss the proposed ICE facility will be at the Santa Maria Fair Park on February 5.
