I moved to Barbara County 53 years ago from the East Coast. It took me a few years to fully acclimate to life here in California. It’s a very different place than anywhere else in the eastern part of the country. One of the differences, and there are many, is that Latino people have been here since before California existed. Latino people are an integral part of California history and culture and these good folks are not going anywhere. They’re a part of our our life out here in California.
Consequently, people who actually live here love this community. We don’t love this community because they’re illegal or legal. We love this community because these are amazing people who are good, honest, hard-working, loving human beings. We Californians know this. We know it to the bottom of our existence that this is the truth of the matter.
People who are not from here or who have never been here will not understand this; we love our Latino community as much as we love the United States of America and don’t need to make excuses for it.
That will never change. It’s the way it has always been here for hundreds of years. Immigration raids with the military are wrong and will never be accepted as legitimate. Never ever ever.
Republicans can politicize all they want but the fact is we have a community here in California whom we are willing to back 500 percent.
