WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville City Council moved forward with an ordinance Tuesday that updates a 2007 decision to declare Watsonville as a sanctuary city for immigrants.
With an unanimous vote, the council upgraded the 2007 resolution to an ordinance, providing specific procedures on how city employees should, or should not, act on federal immigration law.
Among other things, the ordinance states that no city resources should be used to apprehend a person based solely on their immigration status.
It also directs city officials to not assist in enforcing federal immigration law, as well as decline to notify federal authorities about the release of any person detained for immigration purposes.
The decision comes at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to pull federal funding from jurisdictions across the nation that declare themselves a “sanctuary.”
Lawmakers are also looking to make California a “sanctuary state,” with a bill approved recently by the Senate that prohibits law enforcement agencies from participating in immigration enforcement.
Mayor Oscar Rios said Trump has spread “hatred” of immigrants since the day he decided to run for president, and local cities across the nation need to stand together to combat his message.
“He has stirred up this hatred, and we cannot tolerate it,” Rios said.
According to Councilwoman Trina Coffman-Gomez, the council has received emails from people who state they will not support stores in Watsonville if the city declares itself a sanctuary.
“It isn’t about hiding people that have done things that are criminal,” she said. “The police force are going to treat anybody that is doing criminal activity the same way. To say that you won’t purchase anything in this city if we are a sanctuary city is a huge misconception on what the intent is for the sanctuary city ordinance.”
Watsonville resident Steve Trujillo said the city must send a message to Trump that it will not tolerate “immigrant bashing.”
“I feel it is imperative that this be passed to show that we are in solidarity with our residents who are not documented,” he said. “They are not illegal. There is no such person on Earth that is illegal.”
Councilman Felipe Hernandez said it is crucial for the city to protect its agricultural work base, as it is the “backbone of our local economy.”
“This is the most humane thing that we can do, and it’s the best thing we can do to protect our local economy,” he said.
In other action, the council unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on new medical centers in shopping center and commercial districts.
Assistant City Manager Matt Huffaker said the urgency ordinance would only affect two districts in the city, which includes most of the area around Freedom Boulevard, Airport Boulevard, East Lake Avenue and Main Street, for a total of about 215 acres.
Medical centers, such as clinics, dental labs, surgical centers and more, are permitted in those areas. But Huffaker said the city needs to strike a balance between providing medical services for residents and having retail establishments that generate sales tax.
He cited Kaiser Permanente’s 2016 move to Watsonville, when the property owner served eviction notices to eight businesses to make room for the medical center.
“More health service providers is a good thing, however we also want to be careful because our shopping centers are one of the most convenient and accessible sites for expanding medical offices within Watsonville, but they are also some of the most commercially viable spaces in the community,” Huffaker said.
The temporary moratorium will allow city staff to study the issue and meet with businesses, and come back to the council at a later date with their findings, he added. He noted that there are “multiple interests” looking to establish some sort of medical center in Watsonville.
City Attorney Alan Smith said the moratorium does not prevent applications from being processed.
In a letter to the council, Clark Codiga of Oaktree Property Company urged the council to not pass the moratorium, and expressed concern that no businesses and property owners were notified of the proposal before the meeting.
“The City is restricting our potential pool of tenants that would help to improve and elevate the economy, services and taxes for the city,” he wrote.
Huffaker said that because the moratorium is temporary, it doesn’t require the same amount of outreach that a permanent ordinance would.
Councilwoman Nancy Bilicich said she had an issue with “government always telling us what to do.”
“If this is 45 days, it better be only 45 days, and we better have a solution by then,” she said.
