2017 was a year marked with anxiety, fear and unrest.
Anxiety over the results of the November 2016 election, when Donald Trump, a candidate who had a markedly rigid stance on immigration, emerged victorious in the presidential race. Fear in Watsonville’s large undocumented population that their families would be torn apart from deportation. And lastly, unrest among the populace, who staged a number of demonstrations throughout the year in response to the new president’s policies.
But through these times, the community came out to support its neighbors.
In January, the Watsonville City Council reaffirmed Watsonville’s sanctuary city status, which states that no city resources may be used to enforce federal immigration law. It bolstered the decision in April by upgrading the resolution to an ordinance.
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees also passed a resolution in support of migrant students and families.
Numerous forums and workshops were held throughout the year, offering “know your rights” information to migrants.
The demonstrations began the day after Trump was inaugurated with the largest of them all: the Women’s March. The nationwide event made its way to Watsonville and Santa Cruz, where thousands of people marched to show their support for all, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation or migrant status.
While federal officers did conduct a number of immigration raids throughout the county during 2017, there didn’t seem to be any more or less than previous years, only that the community was made more aware of them due to the national climate.
Watsonville scored a win regarding immigration toward the end of the year. A federal judge in November blocked an order from Trump to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities.”
There was also another series of events that brought on a different kind of fear earlier in the year, one that was caused naturally and not by political means: major storms and the damage it wreaked throughout the county.
After a five-year drought in California, the state was pummeled by heavy winds and rains in January and February that resulted in flooding, evacuations, road closures and more.
The County of Santa Cruz estimates that the storms caused more than $130 million in damage to roads and facilities. Repairs are still underway as the calendar turns to 2018.
In this issue, the Pajaronian compiled some of the major stories of 2017. It is not a comprehensive list, but rather, it is meant to highlight what happened in the unusual year that was 2017.
