WATSONVILLE — The past two years have been an unstable time for many immigrants in the United States. From the current administration’s increasing of border control at the Mexican border to people from certain Middle Eastern countries being turned away in airports, the issue seems to have come to a head at the national level.
This is why Paulina Moreno of the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County (CAB) believes that acting locally is now more important than ever.
“We can’t count on the federal government right now,” she said. “We have to instead work within our communities to support each other.”
Moreno is program director for the newly-formed Thriving Immigrants initiative, which is part of the CAB program known as the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project.
Thriving Immigrants was created to work with undocumented individuals and their families who have little to no pathways — not only to citizenship, but also to basic needs and information. This could include families who have at least one member who is already detained in custody.
Moreno explained that she and others at the Immigration Project had been noticing disparities within the local immigrant community, especially since the current administration took power.
“We realized there is a lot of confusion out there,” she said. “People are scared. They don’t know where or who they can turn to.”
The idea for Thriving Immigrants began last year, when the Packard Foundation had reached out to CAB to help get things started. Other organizations, such as Catholic Charities, Pajaro Valley Prevention and Immigrant Legal Services of the Central Coast, also joined in.
Thriving Immigrants will aim to provide people with access to education, employment and everyday needs such as food and transportation, as well as individual attention such as emotional counseling.
“Small, community efforts like this are what can resist against the government,” said Ariadna Renteria Torres, executive director of Immigrant Legal Services of the Central Coast. “This is where we have the power.”
Thriving Immigrants is still in its beginning stages, and Moreno said that CAB is currently reaching out to elected officials and other organizations for support. They soon hope to build a plan for what they will work on in the next few years.
“I hope we can open up a dialogue here in Santa Cruz County about immigration,” Moreno said. “All of us can work together under one umbrella, and start moving in the right direction.”
For information about Thriving Immigrants, call 274-3159. For information about the Community Action Board, visit cabinc.org.
