As leaders and members of Women’s Political Committee of Santa Barbara County and Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County we have spent the past week listening to residents who are frightened, confused, and deeply unsettled by the recent ICE activity in our community.
Last week, we met directly with the Police Chief and the City Administrator because our residents deserve clarity and consistent communication from their local government in moments like this. We appreciate the time they took to explain jurisdictional boundaries and operational realities. That clarity is important.
But clarity of process is not the same as moral clarity.
What people need to hear in this moment was simple: that the fear families are feeling is real, that their neighbors see them, and that the values of Santa Barbara are rooted in dignity, humanity, and respect for the people who live and work here regardless of immigration status.
This is not a question of whether local law enforcement follows the law. The Santa Barbara Police Department was not the source of residents’ fear. The fear came from watching unidentified federal agents operating in our community in ways that felt alarming, opaque, and deeply destabilizing to families and neighborhoods.
When residents ask their leaders to speak, they are not asking for a legal explanation of what cannot be done. They are asking for reassurance about who we are and what we can expect as far as protection from our local law enforcement.
Santa Barbara is a community where people look out for one another. Where children go to school together, where families work side by side, where neighbors know each other by name. Many of those neighbors are immigrants. They are part of the fabric of this city.
We believe it is possible to explain jurisdictional limits and still clearly state our values. We believe it is possible to describe what the city cannot control while also affirming what this community stands for.
And what we stand for is this: dignity, transparency, and the basic humanity of every person who calls Santa Barbara home.
We are proud of the residents who showed up, who asked questions, and who stood on the right side of history by insisting that fear and silence are not acceptable responses in moments like this. Now more than ever, we must stand together and not be divided by process but united by principle.
Christina Pizarro is president of Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee, and Claudette Roehrig is board president of Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County.
