The Santa Barbara City Council will be hosting a special meeting on immigration on Thursday, July 31, at 11:30 a.m. at City Hall. The council will discuss the city’s response to the increase in immigration enforcement and potential actions as recommended by immigrant rights advocates and community members who packed Franklin Neighborhood Center to speak out during an Emergency Town Hall Meeting on July 15.
This is just the latest local government hearing called in response to the more than 620 immigration-related arrests reported on the Central Coast over the past six months. Earlier this month, the county of Santa Barbara and the cities of Goleta and Carpinteria each held emergency meetings, which were all packed with residents sharing testimonies of families being torn apart, people being arrested on their way to work, and the overriding fear in Latino communities throughout the county.
Primitiva Hernandez — who, as executive director of 805 UndocuFund, works directly with hundreds of families impacted U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) operations — recommended the city take several actions to address the immigration crisis, including: funding for programs providing legal assistance, mental health support, and youth counseling for affected families; working with police to notify the community of ICE presence; using city properties to host community defense training sessions; and declaring a state of emergency in the city.
Thursday’s special meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m. at City Hall. The hearing will be livestreamed, and public comments can be made in person, via Zoom, or through email (Clerk@SantaBarbaraCA.gov).
For more information, visit https://santabarbaraca.gov/immigration-resources.
