Category: Immigration

Mixteco / Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) members on scene at ICE immigration raid in Camarillo. Please see related stories

by Community Contributor • July 11, 2025 • Comments Off

(Editor’s note: Federal agents wearing military camouflage gear raided a state-licensed marijuana nursery located between Camarillo and Oxnard on Thursday, July 11. The federal agents then used smoke and chemical canisters after a growing number of protesters attempted to block the arrests of workers, according to various media reports.)

Images and content below courtesy of the Mixteco / Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP). Please see related news stories below.

From MICOP’s Radio Indígena Facebook Live: We have some team members still on site waiting (as of Friday morning, July 11) for ICE to leave to provide transportation to community members trapped. This has been going on for at least 12 hours. This is the moment ICE agents shot teargas at unarmed community members as they prepared to leave the area.

LULAC hails Federal Court Victory preserving Birthright Citizenship in the United States

by Community Contributor • July 11, 2025 • Comments Off

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) (July 10) celebrates a landmark decision by U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante of New Hampshire, who issued a ruling blocking the Trump administration’s executive order seeking to strip automatic birthright citizenship from children born in the United States to undocumented parents. This decision marks a crucial victory for members of LULAC, the first organization to file a lawsuit challenging the administration’s attempt to undermine one of the most fundamental rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

Pew Research Center’s Race & Ethnicity report — Birthright citizenship, deportation worries and Trump’s 2024 voter coalition

by Community Contributor • July 11, 2025 • Comments Off

U.S. public is split on birthright citizenship for people whose parents immigrated illegally

Half of U.S. adults say people born in the United States to parents who immigrated illegally should have U.S. citizenship, while 49% say they should not. By contrast, nearly all say people born in the country to U.S.-born parents (95%) or to parents who immigrated legally (94%) should be citizens.
Related: Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship draws more disapproval than approval

Ventura County leaders stand in solidarity in support of our immigrant families, impacted businesses and the Ventura County community

by Community Contributor • July 2, 2025 • Comments Off

VENTURA — Elected officials and leaders from across Ventura County gathered (June 27) to address growing concerns about unjust immigration enforcement and reaffirm the community’s values of inclusion and justice. Speaking directly to Ventura’s immigrant community and the broader public, the event highlighted local leadership’s commitment to humane policy, community protection, and civil rights defense for all.

Speakers at the event included Vianey Lopez, County Supervisor, District 5, FatherTom Elewaut, Pastor of Mission Basilica San Buenaventura, David Newman, Mayor, City of Thousand Oaks, Bruce Stenslie, President/CEO, Economic Development Collaborative (EDC), Gabe Teran, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Oxnard, Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller, Temple Beth Torah, Dr. Martita Martinez-Bravo, PsyD, Councilmember, City of Camarillo and Executive Director, Friends of Fieldworkers, Dr. Felix Nuñez, CEO, Gold Coast Health Plan, Helen McGrath, fifth-generation member of the McGrath farming family and Dr. Ana DeGenna, Superintendent, Oxnard School District.

Bilingual report — County of Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors to hold meeting

by Community Contributor • June 26, 2025 • Comments Off

View this email online The next regular meeting of the County Board of Supervisors is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 1, 2025 County Administration Building Board Hearing Room, Fourth Floor 105 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara The public may participate…

Bilingual report — Joint Statement from the Fire Departments of Ventura County: Emergency services are for everyone

by Community Contributor • June 20, 2025 • Comments Off

VENTURA COUNTY — Every fire department in Ventura County is united in our commitment to protecting lives—no matter who you are or where you’re from. Everyone in our communities deserves safety, emergency care, and compassion. Our firefighters respond to every emergency without hesitation or judgment. Immigration status is never a factor in the care we provide, and we do not ask, record, or report that information.

MICOP — With Dignity & Respect: ICE Out of Ventura County! See related news stories here

by Community Contributor • June 13, 2025 • Comments Off

(Amigos805.com Editor’s Note: Also see national new stories about immigration raids in the 805 region courtesy of ABC7 News, KTLA 5, NBC LA and MSNBC.

VENTURA — In response to escalating federal immigration raids, the deployment of National Guard troops at peaceful protests in Los Angeles, and the confirmed presence of ICE activity across Ventura County the “ICE Out of Ventura County and 805 Immigrant Coalition,” with community partners held a press conference on June 12 in front of the County of Ventura Government Center.

“ICE Out of Ventura County” is a call to action against the ongoing criminalization and militarization targeting our immigrant and Indigenous neighbors.

(MICOP also announced that a press conference was also on June 12 at the Joseph Centeno Betteravia Administration Building in Santa Maria featuring a variety of migrant community support organizations.)

“These past few days have been incredibly painful for our community, beginning with the unjust raids targeting our hardworking brothers and sisters across various industries in Los Angeles. But nothing prepared us for the devastation of what happened here at home,” stated MICOP’s Community Organizing Director Juvenal Solano, “On Tuesday, June 10, our city of Oxnard was the target of mass raids—families ripped apart in an instant, children left waiting for parents who never came home. The heartbreak is unbearable. The rage is deep.”

Bilingual commentary — Delighting in Cruelty

by Community Contributor • June 13, 2025 • Comments Off

Every day since the beginning of this year, I listen to the news from reliable, respected sources. Since the beginning of the year, I often find myself wondering why our federal government seems to delight in what seems to be a policy of cruelty.

Consider the following recent issues:

the blitzkrieg mass firings of new and experienced government employees
the hostile takeover of cultural centers
the treatment of immigrants, both legal and illegal …

El Concilio Family Services — Need to renew your permanent resident card?

by Community Contributor • June 13, 2025 • Comments Off

OXNARD — Let El Concilio help you stay protected and prepared! *** Nuestro equipo acreditado a nivel federal está listo para ayudarlo. Ofreciendo renovaciones gratuitas de tarjetas de residencia permanente. Renovaciones Solo para Tarjetas que han vencido o vencerán dentro de los próximos 6 meses.

Atentamente,
El Concilio Family Services

Farm Bureau of Ventura County — Western Center for Ag Health and Safety Training on June 13 for foreman and supervisors Immigration Enforcement in the Agricultural Workplace

by Community Contributor • June 13, 2025 • Comments Off

Join the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety on Friday, June 13th at 9 am to learn how leaders in the agricultural workplace can prepare and respond to immigration enforcement. The primary audience is crew leaders and frontline supervisors. The webinar will be in Spanish with simultaneous English interpretation. This webinar will not be recorded.

LULAC urges public calm as National Guard troops ordered by Trump Administration arrive in Southern California

by Community Contributor • June 13, 2025 • Comments Off

“We are very concerned over the inflammatory language that the Trump administration is using to describe the environment in Los Angeles, which its actions have ignited,” said Roman Palomares, LULAC National President and Chairman of the Board. “Sending national guard troops into Southern California, without regard for the authority or knowledge of local or state officials, is a deliberate tactic that is only ramping up the anger,” he adds.

Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) hiring team members in Oxnard

by Community Contributor • June 2, 2025 • Comments Off

We’re building power – and we’re building our team.

CAUSE is excited to announce that we’re hiring two new team members in Oxnard to grow our environmental justice organizing and advocacy work.

Right now, powerful industries are trying to turn our communities into sacrifice zones – polluting our air, threatening our health, and putting profit over people. And with growing attacks from the federal level, we know we need bold, grassroots leadership now more than ever. That’s why we’re expanding our team to meet this moment.

UCSB — The Current — ‘Murphy Niu receives NSF CAREER award for quantum computing innovation’ and more news, events

by Community Contributor • May 27, 2025 • Comments Off

The physicist and computer science assistant professor explores a hybrid approach to scalable, error-resilient quantum machines.

Bilingual report — Community Organizing Gatherings continue across Santa Barbara County on May 24

by Community Contributor • May 23, 2025 • Comments Off

Looking to take action in your community? Join the Santa Barbara Transgender Advocacy Network for a countywide day of community organizing this Saturday, May 24th, from 12 to 2 PM in Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Isla Vista.

UCSB — The Current — ‘Jason De León to speak on May 15,’ and more news, events

by Community Contributor • May 13, 2025 • Comments Off

The scholar and National Book Award-winning author explores the human consequences of U.S. immigration policies and shares stories of hope and resilience from the border.

805UndocuFund receives $32,000 in total grant support from the Fund for Santa Barbara to strengthen immigrant rights advocacy and Emergency Response

by Community Contributor • April 11, 2025 • Comments Off

SANTA BARBARA — 805UndocuFund is proud to announce it has received a total of $32,000 in grant funding from The Fund for Santa Barbara to expand its immigrant rights advocacy and strengthen rapid response and disaster relief efforts across the Central Coast.

The first award—a $10,000 Emergent Needs Grant from The Fund for Santa Barbara—will provide general operating support for the 805 Immigrant Rapid Response Network, which monitors and responds to immigration enforcement actions across Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo Counties.

The second award—a $12,000 Donor Advised Grant, also from The Fund for Santa Barbara—provides additional general support for the Rapid Response Network, further sustaining the network’s capacity to verify ICE activity, deploy trained legal observers and community responders, and provide emergency assistance to impacted families.

Farmworkers in Santa Maria demand dignity, fair wages, and an end to deportations in commemoration of César Chávez Day

by Community Contributor • April 7, 2025 • Comments Off

SANTA MARIA — On Sunday, March 30, the Santa Maria community peacefully rallied alongside farmworkers and allies, standing firm to demand dignity—not just for their labor but for their humanity. Everyone, no matter where they were born, deserves respect, fair wages, and the opportunity to live without fear.

“We are all here today united to use our voices to fight back against the deportations. We are fighting for our kids; we are fighting for ourselves because we are all essential and deserve the right to live safely, without fear,” said Gabriela Vivar, Farmworker Leader with Alianza Campesina.

Santa Barbara joins national “Hands Off!” Day of Action on April 5 to push back against rising authoritarianism and corporate greed

by Community Contributor • April 4, 2025 • Comments Off

The event, part of a nationwide protest movement, will take place at De La Guerra Plaza from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, with pre-rally sign-making starting at 12:00 PM. It is co-sponsored by Indivisible Santa Barbara and Women’s March Santa Barbara, and is part of a coordinated response to what organizers call an “ongoing crisis of power and greed” from Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and other billionaire elites.

UCSB Arts & Lectures presenting three new Spring Events — ‘Justice for All’

by Community Contributor • March 21, 2025 • Comments Off

Illuminating a wide spectrum of systemic injustice, the Justice for All programming initiative looks to today’s great minds and creators and to the courageous leaders across the globe who are forging a new path forward. Join us as we learn from those confronting uncomfortable questions, solving difficult problems, and guiding us all toward a more equitable world.

Guest contribution — 805 Immigrant Coalition condemns hate crime in Newbury Park

by Community Contributor • March 21, 2025 • Comments Off

CENTRAL COAST — The 805 Immigrant Coalition strongly condemns the hate crime that took place (March 17, 2025), around lunchtime in Newbury Park, where an individual was seen wearing a jacket labeled “ICE” at El Sancho Loco. Concerned community members reported this incident to the 805UndocuFund social media page, expressing deep concern over this act of intimidation.

This type of intimidation is not only cruel and harmful — it is illegal. Impersonating a federal officer is a crime under 18 USC § 912, and impersonating a police officer is a misdemeanor under California Penal Code § 538d. These actions spread fear, confusion, and unnecessary distress among families already vulnerable to unjust enforcement threats. The 805 Immigrant Coalition stands firmly against hate-fueled scare tactics and urges community members to report these hate crimes to law enforcement.

Santa Barbara Quakers join interfaith challenge to Department of Homeland Security’s rescission of sensitive locations policy

by Community Contributor • February 21, 2025 • Comments Off

SANTA BARBARA — Friends General Conference (FGC), a national Quaker organization, joined multiple religious organizations in challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) reversal of the sensitive locations policy, which previously limited immigration enforcement actions at places of worship. The Santa Barbara Friends Meeting (SBFM) as an affiliate of FGC, joined this legal challenge.

We are an unprogrammed meeting of Quakers and we reaffirm that our house of worship serves as a sanctuary for all. The belief that God is within every person has powerful ramifications.

LULAC Officially Launches El Pueblo Unido: A Resource Guide for Community Leaders

by Community Contributor • February 14, 2025 • Comments Off

LULAC is proud to announce the official launch of El Pueblo Unido: A Resource Guide for Community Leaders—a vital tool designed to help key institutions navigate recent policy changes impacting immigrant communities.

This guide builds on El Escudo: Immigrant Rights and Resources Toolkit, which we launched just a few weeks ago. El Escudo serves as a one-stop shop for immigrants to understand their rights, prepare for potential deportation, and access critical resources. True to LULAC’s legacy of using El Escudo—“the shield”—to protect Latino communities from injustice, this latest resource shifts the focus to empowering community leaders so they can support and defend those most vulnerable.

Guest contribution — American Immigration Council — This Week in Immigration

by Community Contributor • February 14, 2025 • Comments Off

Trump Is Sending Migrants to Guantánamo Bay to Look Tough Your weekly summary from the Council. LATEST ANALYSIS Sending Migrants to Guantánamo Bay Is a Costly, Optics-Driven Shift in Immigration DetentionPresident Trump ordered the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand…

Guest commentary — The Fire Bell of Students

by Community Contributor • February 7, 2025 • Comments Off

On Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, hundreds of angry Oxnard Union High School District and Oxnard School District students sounded the tocsin of resistance to the ICE raids unleashed by President Frump. They walked out in protest from the campuses of R.J. Frank Intermediate and the high schools of Channel Islands, Del Sol, Hueneme, Oxnard, Pacifica, and others. Some lined the streets and avenues adjacent to their campuses; others marched and drove to the City of Oxnard’s ombligo, la placita, where mi raza, in alliance with other working-class gente, historically organized similar rallies demanding immigrant rights as well as the end to police violence.

Cars and pickup trucks roamed the intersection of Fifth and C Streets to affirm the students’ cause with repeated honks, blaring banda music, and the deafening revving of V8 engines. The students responded in kind with hoots while pumping their pawky placards and Mexican colors. School administrators and teachers protectively observed the youth as did boomers like me, Gen Xers, and millennials—yes millennials you are no longer young.

Guest commentary — An Immigrant Tale in the Time of Trump*

by Community Contributor • February 7, 2025 • Comments Off

Our three-alarm opera begins very early in our house each morning. First, Lady Whiskers, our huge Coon cat, meows politely, already in front of the bedroom door telling us quite empathically that she is ready to go into the darkness of the morning and begin her early dawn hunt. Our puppy, Maximiliano (Mad Max), hearing his sister, begins crying for attention and some warm milk. Half an hour later our family alarm goes off, all the while classical music is mesmerizingly reminding us to be mindful, trucha, and cool for the battles that lay ahead. This how we had begun our morning wakeup ritual for a while, until Trump ascended to the Monarchy of the United States roughly three weeks ago, and completely highjacked, assaulted, and disrupted our world.

Guest contribution — American Immigration Council — What happens to U.S. citizen children when an undocumented parent must leave?

by Community Contributor • February 7, 2025 • Comments Off

Across the country, deportation is often discussed as an absolute end. What seems to be missing in the conversation is that for the deported people and their families, it’s the beginning of a new set of legal obstacles that often require advocates on both sides of the border to resolve. It is also the beginning of a new and often hard life chapter.

Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula to present ‘Enfoque (In Focus)’ opening reception on Feb. 6

by Community Contributor • February 4, 2025 • Comments Off

SANTA PAULA — The Museum of Ventura County’s newest exhibition will celebrate and highlight the pride and resilience of the Mexican Indigenous community living in the region through photographic portraits taken by internationally acclaimed photographer Diego Huerta during his month-long 2024 Artist Residency at the Museum of Ventura County. Sixteen large-format photographs are accompanied by quotes from the individuals portrayed, revealing deep emotional connections to their cultural heritage and expressing pride, hope, and a commitment to preserving their traditions as they make Ventura County their home. For almost two decades, Mr. Huerta has been photographing Pueblos Originarios—Indigenous communities—in Mexico. This is the first time he has photographed these groups outside of Mexico.

Farm Bureau of Ventura County — Updated Resources on Immigration & CBP Activity

by Community Contributor • February 4, 2025 • Comments Off

Confirmed ICE presence in Ventura County

Multiple ICE agents were confirmed to be stopping cars and knocking on doors in Ventura County last week. Farm Bureau of Ventura County reached out to Congresswoman Julia Brownley. January 29th, Congresswoman Julia Brownley sent a letter to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman and Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Caleb Vitello demanding answers about recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations conducted in Ventura County. These operations, which took place in Oxnard and Santa Paula, have sparked widespread fear and raised serious concerns about the agency’s tactics and respect for due process. Read the full letter here.

Bilingual report — City of Ventura Mayor Dr. Jeannette Sánchez-Palacios addresses recent federal immigration enforcement actions

by Community Contributor • January 31, 2025 • Comments Off

Dear City of Ventura Residents and Community Stakeholders,

In light of the recent federal immigration enforcement actions taking place across the nation, including in California, I want to address our community to provide clarity, support, and reassurance. Ventura is a community built on inclusion and mutual respect. Local organizations are available to provide assistance, legal guidance, and resources to those in need.

• Know your rights. You have constitutional protections. Review resources and
information from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
• Seek guidance from trusted organizations. Groups like the El Concilio Family Services, and the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) offer legal resources and support.
• Create a family safety plan. Have a plan in place, including childcare arrangements
and emergency contacts. If you are at risk of losing housing, the City also offers rental assistance for transitional age youth (ages 18-24) through our Homelessness Prevention Program.
• Report and document. If you or someone you know is impacted by an enforcement
action, take note of key details and reach out to local support organizations.

Guest contribution — American Immigration Council — After Day One: Trump Wants to Redefine America

by Community Contributor • January 31, 2025 • Comments Off

On the first day of his second term, President Trump issued a series of immigration-related executive orders and proclamations that will quickly re-shape the U.S. immigration system. These executive orders affect nearly every facet of a complex and demanding system. Most of the policy changes introduced through these actions are framed as directives to federal departments and agencies. However, their language also aims to stoke fear as a means of testing the boundaries of executive authority.

805 UNCOCUFund — Impacts of ICE Raids in the Past 4 Days

by Community Contributor • January 3, 2025 • Comments Off

This year felt as if we have lived a thousand lives. As Executive Director of 805UndocuFund, and as someone who comes from an immigrant family, I carry the weight of these past days and year deeply. The numbers are staggering, but what stays with me are the faces, the phone calls, the children waiting for parents who never came home. This level of enforcement violence is not accidental, it is intentional, and it is devastating entire communities in real time.

What gives me hope is our collective response. Community members are showing up for one another with courage, care, and refusal to be silent. Mutual aid, rapid response, and collective defense are acts of love and resistance. As we close this year, I am asking you to stand with our community. Your support allows us to act immediately, protect families, and ensure that no one is taken in silence or forgotten.

In solidarity,