“We are ready.”
MariaElena De La Garza, Executive Director of the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz, gestures to the line of officials and community leaders from Santa Cruz County gathered to reaffirm their support to immigrants.
At 1 p.m. on Nov. 7, county leaders held a press conference in front of the county courthouse in light of the reelection of former President Donald Trump, who has promised to implement many anti-immigrant policies once he takes office.
“We have a very large immigrant [population] in Santa Cruz County and they’ve especially been demonized,” said Carlos Palacios, County Administration Officer. “And so we want to show, especially for those folks, all the support we can, and we know that it’s going to be very difficult times ahead. But we’re showing that we are here to do everything we can to protect them and help them.”
Santa Cruz County has an estimated 19,500 undocumented immigrants. For years, the county has made an effort to serve this community through resources such as the Santa Cruz County Human Services Department and the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project.
In addition to spoken statements of solidarity and support, community members distributed a letter signed by 35 city and county officials, chiefs of police, and elected officials to those present at the press conference.
“We understand the … sentiment, people might be scared or anxious and we are committed to supporting our residents regardless of their immigration status,” said Vanessa Quiroz-Carter, mayor of Watsonville. “We’ve been a sanctuary city for a long time, but we want to just reiterate that we’re going to continue to be a sanctuary city, and that we support every resident regardless of their immigration status.”
The letter lays out multiple policies at the state and local level to ensure Santa Cruz County and the cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville remain sanctuaries for immigrants. For example, the California Values Act prohibits state and local police from supporting immigration enforcement. Furthermore, resolutions from the county, as well as the cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville, have passed to protect residents regardless of immigration status.
In addition to affirming rights and safety to immigrants, community leaders provided resources that Santa Cruz County residents can access. 
MariaElena De La Garza holds a red card from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. The card, written in Spanish, outlines undocumented folks’ legal rights and recommended actions when visited by an immigration official.
“As a response together, we create a safety net,” said MariaElena De La Garza. “We have to be the voice for our community who … cannot be the voice for themselves. Everyone has a right to belong. Everyone has a right to have access to safety services and everyone has a right to thrive.”
Also present at the press conference was Daniel Dodge Sr., president of Monterey Bay Central Labor Council and executive director of American Federation of Teachers Local 4400. He believes that the labor movement can add significant power to the resistance of the policies of the future federal government.
“When we talk about the potential for direct action, it will come from the labor movement,” Dodge said. “It’s going to have to come from the people that have always stood up for the people and that is us in the labor movement.”
