Panel: Protecting Our Immigrant Community

Many of us continue to reel from the chaos, uncertainty, fear and dramatic changes coming from the White House. I asked Patricia Keelan, CEO of CommUnify, the organization that provides a lifeline of essential services to seniors, children and low-income families, how a federal funding freeze would impact local non-profits. The discussion was captured here by KEYT.

For example, Head Start is a federal early childhood education program established by President Johnson that has helped 38 million young children, and pregnant mothers, thrive. From Carpinteria to Guadalupe, 600 families rely on this federally funded preschool care; without it, children won’t receive valuable developmental skills and their parents will have a difficult time going to work to provide for their families.

The presence of ICE throughout Santa Barbara County continues to raise alarm bells and cascade terror and anxiety throughout our community. These issues and more put a microscope on the need to reaffirm our commitment to supporting all of our residents and ensure they feel safe.

Immediately following the election of President Trump, the Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution in support of protections for immigrants and migrants. I’m resolute in my commitment to keep this work going to support our most vulnerable.

I invite you to a panel the League of Women Voters is hosting with community organizations working tirelessly on behalf of our immigrant community, Santa Barbara Immigrant Legal Defense Center and 805UndocuFund, on Thursday, February 27 at 12:00PM. The panel will be recorded if you’re not able to attend in person.