Santa Cruz County’s immigrant population received an additional measure of protection March 10, when the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance which, if adopted March 24, would prohibit federal immigration officials from using county property or facilities for immigration-related enforcement activities.
The proposed ordinance would bar federal agents from staging or processing civil immigration enforcement operations on county-owned or county-controlled property, including county buildings, parking lots and open spaces.
The policy would not block enforcement actions when agents have a judicial warrant or court order.
The ordinance was developed by the newly formed S.H.I.E.L.D. (Safeguarding Health, Inclusion, Essential Services and Local Defense) subcommittee, which also examined how federal immigration enforcement actions and potential federal budget changes could affect residents’ access to county services.
The subcommittee, composed of Supervisors Monica Martinez and Felipe Hernandez, was formed in January to review county policies and assess potential impacts on community stability and access to services.
Those impacts, Hernandez said, are “devastating to families.”
“It causes not only fear, but it halts the daily lives of our residents,” he said. “Children are afraid to go to school for fear that their parents might get detained or deported.”
Hernandez added that some families are making contingency plans for their children should they be detained.
“Residents should not have to live in fear while carrying out their basic needs,” he said. “Access to essential services like health care, schools, public services and food should be a right, yet many avoid medical care and even essential services because of fear.”
Martinez said the subcommittee—and its work—is not intended to replace volunteer response organizations such as Your Allied Rapid Response (YARR), the Santa Cruz County Immigration Coalition and the South County Triage Group.
