Santa Barbara Supes Support DACA

Two days before the DACA renewal application deadline, the Santa Barbara County Supervisors adopted on Tuesday a resolution to support the roughly 5,000 Dreamers in the county. Several immigration activists expressed gratitude for what critics dismissed as merely a symbolic gesture. “As our population grows in California we are going to need a strong healthy population,” one supporter said.

The three liberal progressive South County supervisors — Janet Wolf, Joan Hartmann, Das Williams — wholeheartedly supported the motion. “When it comes to our kids in our county I believe that it is our responsibility to take a stand,” Wolf said.

North County supervisors Steve Lavagnino and Peter Adam, however, abstained, arguing DACA was not within their purview. “For us, it might be nice to do, but I don’t find it very productive,” Lavagnino said.

But Hartmann, who chairs the board, had the last word: “Symbols are extremely important.”