President Donald Trump’s administration is making good on campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration, resulting in sweeping deportation operations across the nation and hitting close to home in Santa Maria.
Most recently, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested hundreds of undocumented immigrants in the greater Los Angeles area—an operation that impacted lives across six counties, including Santa Barbara. The agency’s second five-day sweep of 2017, which concluded on May 23, netted 10 arrests in Santa Barbara County—nine in Santa Maria and one in Santa Barbara.
Virginia Kice, spokesperson for ICE, said nine of the 10 arrested locally had prior criminal convictions. Three of those convictions were DUIs, and others included re-entry after deportation, trespassing, drug trafficking, providing false identification, illegal entry, and escape.
The one arrestee with no prior criminal conviction was a Mexican national who had been previously deported and illegally re-entered the United States, according to Kice.
Before January, those convicted of non-violent criminal offenses such as identity fraud and driving under the influence probably wouldn’t have been flagged for removal. But on Jan. 25, Trump signed an executive order expanding removal priorities on undocumented people beyond violent criminals to include those convicted of lesser crimes.
According to an email to the Sun from Kice, all of those arrested locally in May’s operation were men—nine of whom were from Mexico, and one from El Salvador. She said eight of the 10 arrestees had previously been removed from the United States, one had an outstanding order of removal, and one had not previously been encountered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and would begin removal proceedings. She added that it was an ICE-only operation—local law enforcement wasn’t involved.
Kice said in her email that where and how ICE officers made their arrests was determined “on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all aspects of the situation, including the prospective target’s criminal history; safety considerations; the viability of the leads on the individual’s whereabouts; and any sensitivities involving the prospective arrest location.” She added that most of ICE’s recent arrests were the results of home raids.
For those in support of stricter immigration enforcement, the ICE sweep meant the removal of potentially harmful criminals, illegal re-entrants, and immigration fugitives. But for much of Southern California’s immigrant population, it meant the sudden loss of friends and family members.
Hazel Davalos, community organizing director for the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), said CAUSE is connected with at least two of the men recently arrested by ICE officers in Santa Maria. One is the father of a special education student at Santa Maria High School, and the other is the brother of another student at the high school, she said.
“Now we have a student in a local high school who will be reeling from that loss,” Davalos told the Sun.
Kenny Klein, public information officer for the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, said staff at Santa Maria High School who knew students affected by the deportations declined to give comment. But he said the school partners with the Mexican Consulate to provide those students and their families with legal support.
“The Mexican Consulate comes with legal people, attorneys, and they talk to the parents or the families about power of attorney, so that when the parent is deported or a guardian is deported, whoever’s deported is ensured that their children are left with someone they trust,” Klein told the Sun.
He added that the high school provides counseling services to students whose family members face deportation, as well as community liaisons to make sure those students have everything they need—such as school supplies and clothing—to continue their education.
“I’d say that we’re way ahead of this,” Klein said. “It’s happening, so we have a system in place to offer some kind of support.”
Davalos said it’s important to keep in mind how these arrests affect people on a personal level—like a local mother now left to raise her child with disabilities on her own. She added that while these pending deportations might be legally justified by criminal backgrounds, that’s not necessarily enough to morally justify them.
“Our stance is if a person in our community does something wrong, they should of course be held accountable,” Davalos said. “But just like anybody else, after they serve their time, they should be able to come back to their community and their family and have a chance to get their life on the right track. In these situations, there’s an opportunity to let the criminal justice system do its job and allow that person a second chance.”
Kice said in an email that of the 188 people arrested in ICE’s recent Southern California operation, at least eight are facing federal prosecution for re-entry after deportation—a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
“Those not being criminally prosecuted will be processed for removal from the country,” a May 25 ICE press release stated. “Individuals who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country.”
ICE previously conducted a similar five-day operation, which concluded on Feb. 6 and swept a seven-county area in Southern California, resulting in the arrests of 161 undocumented immigrants—including five in northern Santa Barbara County.
According to ICE’s May 25 release, the agency’s 2017 arrests to date exceed arrests in the same time frame last year by 40 percent—seemingly fulfilling one of President Trump’s primary campaign commitments. But according to Davalos, where some see a promise kept, others see a tragic threat.
“As usual, these deportations really sent a ripple of fear among the Hispanic community,” Davalos said. “It’s always important to see the human side of these situations.”
Staff Writer Brenna Swanston can be reached at bswanston@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 8-15, 2017.
