Immigrants in Sonoma Valley share information, resources

Local organizations are marshalling resources to better educate and support immigrants and their families as the Trump Administration threatens deportation.|

“Sepa sus derechos”

“Know your rights when dealing with immigration” will be presented by Lucy Benz-Rogers, attorney for the International Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA).

When: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Hanna Boys Center Auditorium, 17000 Arnold Drive, Sonoma

RSVP: brodriguez@hannacenter.org, (707) 996-6767

The presentation will be in Spanish, with English-language materials available. Dinner and childcare will be provided.

A similar "Know Your Rights" event is scheduled for March 7, 6 - 8 p.m. at El Verano School.

Aggressive immigration-enforcement policies announced from the White House this week sparked a quick reaction from Sonoma residents, politicians and activists, but it hasn't been entirely fear and anguish. Instead, local organizations are marshaling resources to better educate and support immigrants and their families to cope with the threat.

'We have been here before,' said Juan Hernandez, executive director of La Luz Center, the Boyes Hot Springs nonprofit which provides various services to many Hispanic families and individuals. He listed a series of crackdowns on 'Mexicanos' in California in the past – deportation programs in the 1930s, Operation Wetback on the 1950s, INS agents chasing people through the streets of East L.A. in the 1980s. But today, he implied, the community has tools to fight back.

'The difference I think is there's more conscious people,' said Hernandez. 'There's more professionals like myself, there's organizations like La Cien, there's people at the district attorney's office in Sonoma County.' And there's La Luz Center, an organization that is not only a 'catalyst for change in Sonoma Valley through health, education and financial security,' as its mission states – but is also a place that responds to change, that shares information and has the resources to deal with it.

'There's fear,' Hernandez admitted. 'People coming in to the office want to talk about what's happening, they want an understanding of what's really going on.' So on a daily basis, the La Luz staff checks into rumors of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers staking out fast-food eateries, or supermarkets, or apartment buildings, and with the help of Sonoma police and the sheriff's office, putting those rumors to rest. 'And so when people call again, we can say those rumors are unfounded.'

Among the steps that La Luz is taking is distributing a Spanish-language flyer to residents as a checklist of things to do and know, and a 'red card' people can slip under their door if ICE comes knocking. The red cards outline residents' rights, which include not opening the door.

In addition, La Luz is holding a series of classes and workshops on such practical steps as setting up legal guardianship papers. 'It at least gives them some peace of mind that their kids are going to be OK in the short term,' said Hernandez, even if their parents are picked up unexpectedly.

'It appears to me that the Department of Homeland Security seeks to ramp up the Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement to function as immigration officers,' said Jerry Threet, director of the new county Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach (IOLERO). 'That program is not imposed on localities, but rather depends on the local agency entering into an agreement with DHS to become immigration agents. I do not believe that there is any plan or intent among local officials to participate in this program.'

County Sheriff-Coroner Steve Freitas issued a statement on Wednesday clarifying that, while his office would not actively assist ICE in their efforts, neither could they actively stand in their way. 'In fact, deputies do not have the legal authority to enforce federal immigration law,' Freitas said in the statement.

Summarized the Sheriff: 'My main goal, and that of our deputies, is to keep you safe… One of the many ways we work to keep you safe is to respond to requests from ICE regarding inmates in our jail.'

But such statements may offer faint reassurance to a population that has 'been here before,' even if it's presented in both English and Spanish, as Freitas' statement was.

'They're nervous, I can tell you that, they're nervous and they're scared,' said Sarah Wilson, director of religious education at St. Francis Solano, about the families the church comes in contact with. There are Spanish-language Masses on both Saturday and Sunday, and Wilson estimates between 800 and 1,000 people attend.

Part of the problem, she said, is that things get taken out of context and rumors turns into disinformation. 'They get their information by word-of-mouth, through Facebook and the news – not reading newspapers because they are all in English, but mostly through the TV. Then they start talking between themselves, and the news start spreading.'

She said it's gotten so some people are afraid to drive, lest they be picked up. 'Now the word is, if the police stop you and they consider you are not welcome here, they will hand you over to ICE. And even though the police keep telling them no, they're nervous.'

So the church has a role to play not only in the afterlife, but in the here-and-now.

'The church is the radio,' as Claudia Mendoza-Carruth characterized it. 'Every Sunday, people gather from the pulpit information on what is true and what is rumor.' That information may be announced after the Mass, as was an invitation to the Feb. 22 meeting of the Sonoma City Council to consider 'sanctuary city' status.

'I lived in Mexico and I live here,' said Wilson, 'and I can tell you that they're hard-working people. Of course I feel for them; I know a lot of good people who are going to be affected by these things – and it hurts us. Especially the children.'

While acknowledging that former President Obama was known as the 'deporter-in-chief' for his administration's deportation of over 2 million illegal immigrants, Hernandez sees a difference.

'Now you have this idea of America first, make America great, and then they turn around and do this,' said Hernandez. 'It kind of feels like, there's no way that we could make America great. So, you guys are out!'

Immigration lawyer Richard Coshnear told the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors this week that there's going to be a need for 'removal defense.'

'It's clear from (Homeland Security secretary John) Kelly's memo that they're not just going to be taking people they're looking for, with criminal records, but they're going to ask the wife and the children and the grandparents, 'Are you documented?' Because they're going to take them too,' said Coshnear. 'We're going to need a lot of help.'

Coshnear heads the nonprofit VIDAS, Vital Immigrant Defense and Services – which was set up to 'serve, empower, and educate immigrants by providing quality low-cost immigration legal services and promoting community action.' He was one of a dozen or so speakers who urged the Supervisors to renew their support of programs to provide services and protections for immigrant communities.

Supervisor Susan Gorin observed, 'We are living in fear of what could happen, might happen and what is possible to happen – and the threats implicit in all of the executive orders and tweets.'

And Board Chair Shirlee Zane concluded, 'I think when people have to live in a state of fear and anxiety that their families will be separated from them, it is an attack on the soul. It is a moral fundamental to be able to live without fear and anxiety.'

'I disagree that they're all criminals,' said Wilson, referring to Candidate Trump's opening salvo against Mexican immigrants. 'I know they're hard-working people. They respect their community and respect the people that are around them. They're not here to harm anyone, they just want to have a better life.'

Contact Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.

“Sepa sus derechos”

“Know your rights when dealing with immigration” will be presented by Lucy Benz-Rogers, attorney for the International Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA).

When: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Hanna Boys Center Auditorium, 17000 Arnold Drive, Sonoma

RSVP: brodriguez@hannacenter.org, (707) 996-6767

The presentation will be in Spanish, with English-language materials available. Dinner and childcare will be provided.

A similar "Know Your Rights" event is scheduled for March 7, 6 - 8 p.m. at El Verano School.

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