Amy Wu

The Californian

With many Salinas residents fearful and anxious about the impact of President Trump’s executive orders on immigration, the issue of whether Salinas would become a sanctuary city has been a critical part of the local discussion.

At Tuesday night the issue was at the forefront at the City Council meeting. After a lengthy and at times emotional meeting that drew many members of the public, City Council voted 4-3 against a resolution that would designate Salinas a sanctuary city. A sanctuary city is loosely defined as a city that welcomes undocumented refugees and immigrants.

The latest proposed resolution establishes a “sanctuary policy” for Salinas, and makes it clear that so far that funding isn’t compromised the city won’t use any city resources to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration regulations.

Supporters of the resolution included Councilmembers Scott Davis, Tony Barrera and Gloria De La Rosa.

Councilmembers Kimbley Craig, Steve McShane, John “Tony” Villegas and Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter dissented.

"It's the right thing to do in my opinion," said Davis, who spearheaded the resolution. The District 1 Councilmember had also taken the lead in drafting a resolution that supports comprehensive immigration reform that Council passed unanimously at the Feb 7. Council meeting.

That resolution allowed Gunter to send a letter and copy of the resolution to U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, a Democrat, who has been vocal against Trump’s immigration stance and organized a well-attended immigration town hall at Hartnell College.

At stake is federal funding. Trump has repeatedly threatened that cities that designate themselves sanctuary cities risk losing funding.

At stake in Salinas is roughly $10 million of annual federal funds, which pay for everything from transportation and infrastructure projects to about a dozen firefighters.

While City Attorney Chris Callihan said he thought Trump’s singling out of sanctuary cities is “unconstitutional,” he said he thought federal funding is a risk.

“It does in my opinion put you at risk,” Callihan said.

Callihan said the only way to potentially regain funding is through litigation. Although he could not confirm or give a figure as to how much litigation costs may be, he said it would be “costly.” To date, Callihan is not aware of any cities that have become sanctuary cities that have had funding stripped.

Gunter said funding for the community is critical too, pointing to the resources for example needed during the recent storm. Gunter said he has delivered the letter to Panetta for comprehensive immigration reform.

McShane and Craig both said they took the fears and needs of the community seriously, but thought the Council had addressed that by passing the resolution supporting comprehensive immigration reform on Feb. 7. McShane said the city needs to address immigration at a "deeper level." City Manager Ray Corpuz Jr. acknowledged that “there is a general fear of the unknown here,” but also suggested that “being a sanctuary city will unfortunately still not solve the problem.”

Salinas Police Chief Adele Fresé has repeatedly said at numerous community meetings and public events that designating a city a “sanctuary city” doesn’t offer any protection to anyone from federal law.



She said Tuesday’s vote does not change things at the Salinas Police Department.



“The city of Salinas police does not take into consideration a resident status when we decide whether we decide to arrest or not to arrest,” she said.

Immigration is a particularly sensitive topic in Salinas, where immigrants make up a significant part of the population and play an essential role the economy. In Salinas Valley agriculture is a $9 billion industry, and statewide the annual $43.5 billion industry is fueled by what some say is a shadow industry of immigrants.

Emotional outpouring

During what at times was an emotional outpouring of public comment. Many supporters, including educators, cited the fears and anxiety of children and youth.

Salinas resident and planning commissioner Matt Huerta said he was moved by the issue.

"We are a target, are we ready for the fight because it's coming to us," said Huerta urging the council to take action. Huerta said $10 million was a small amount considering the immense fears of the community.

Given the unknowns and uncertainties from the new administration, there remain unanswered questions as to the impact of being a sanctuary city. In part the designation is symbolic, a strong stance from a city that the welcome undocumented immigrants, refugees and immigrants. Cities such as New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles have designated themselves sanctuary cities.

Nonetheless Huerta said "symbols mean something as much as we give them meaning."

The discussion and vote occurred amidst loud chanting from members of community organizations including Building Healthier Communities, who supported the resolution. Some members held placards reading, “Today we march, tomorrow we vote.”

Numerous community groups and residents came to support the resolution. Salinas resident Rosa Gonzalez said without a resolution, “there is no safety net for any children.” She said funding should not be a concern and thought it was a fear tactic being used by the administration. At the TK immigration town hall meeting at Hartnell College, U.S. Rep Jimmy Panetta and TK said it isn’t as easy to strip cities of funding as the Trump administration may make it sound.

Supporters of the strengthened resolution said the resolution is more than wording. “I’m in favor of sanctuary cities because our community is made up of immigrants, it’s a shame if we have to be worried if we’ll be together at the end of the day,” said Salinas resident Christopher Barrera. He said sanctuary cities are known to have lower crime rates and he said it shows how critical immigrants are to the community.

“We want undocumented workers to do menial jobs and on the other hand we don’t want to protect them,” said Barrera. “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

Lauro Barajas the national vice president of the Salinas chapter of the United Farm Workers came with about 20 UFW members, and said it is critical the city support immigrants and workers.

“Economically they are part of the city, hardworking people,” Barajas said. “We want Council to take a position, they and (the police) should take care of the people who live in the city.”

Cesar Lara of Building Healthy Communities told the City Council that if they voted to make Salinas a sanctuary city, “you will be on the right side of history.”

After the vote was made, many members of the public expressed their disappointment and frustration.

Elizabeth Madrigal a student Hartnell College said the vote showed that certain City Council members “don’t represent the people of Salinas.”

Davis, Barrera and De La Rosa are holding an immigration forum on Feb. 23.



Contact Government Reporter Amy Wu at 831-754-4285 or awu@thecalifornian.com. Follow Wu on Twitter @wu_salnews orwww.facebook.com/amywucalifornian.