805UndocuFund organizers trained roughly 125 volunteers in Carpinteria on Thursday to become a part of the 805 immigrant rapid response network and help protect communities facing increased immigration enforcement activity.
Primitiva Hernandez, executive director of 805UndocuFund, shared how volunteers can help people being arrested, document arrests, patrol neighborhoods and help the families affected by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts.
Thursday’s community defense training was one of seven that 805UndocuFund organizers held this week in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties.
“Due to the escalation in violence and aggression from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal enforcement agencies, we’ve changed our training to be more responsive to what we are seeing on the ground,” Hernandez said.
The training came exactly two weeks after a federal raid at Glass House Farms, a marijuana facility in Carpinteria where 10 people were arrested and agents used flash and smoke grenades on protesters. At the same time, agents raided another Glass House Farms facility in Camarillo, where they arrested 351 people.
The raids sparked numerous community meetings in the past two weeks where Hernandez has called on local leaders to help fund response efforts.
Hernandez said they need funds for their emergency assistance fund, which goes to families directly affected by family separation.
There are currently 500 families across the Tri-Counties that 805UndocuFund is working with and hopes to give $1,000 to in order to help with basic needs and rent.
So far this year, 805UndocuFund has distributed $160,000, and it hopes to raise $200,000 more for families, Hernandez said.
“There are going to be hundreds and hundreds of families that will need it in the coming months, especially with a huge increase in the budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Hernandez said. “One can only expect that things will continue escalating at the rate that we have seen them, so the need will continue to escalate as well.”
805UndocuFund first launched in January 2018 in response to the Thomas Fire and subsequent mudslides to help provide disaster relief to undocumented immigrant families.
The organization has five staff members right now, but Hernandez said a majority of the work is done by volunteers who respond to reports of ICE sightings and share rights information.
When someone gets detained by ICE agents, Hernandez said the organization’s first step is to get that person connected with legal representation, and when funding is available, it provides financial assistance to the family left behind.
During Thursday’s defense training, community members learned of various roles they could have in the rapid response network, including as dispatch operators, accompanying people to legal hearings, dropping off groceries, taking kids to school, taking notes during interactions with ICE agents for lawyers to use later, responding to reports of ICE arrests, and patrolling neighborhoods.
Hernandez said more than 30,000 people in the Tri-Counties are signed up to receive alerts about ICE activity. It costs 805UndocuFund $200 each time it sends out an alert. In June, the organization spent $10,000 just on alerts.
Rachel Hunter, an Eastside Santa Barbara resident, said she went to Thursday’s training because she wanted to be a part of taking care of her neighborhood.
“I’m very concerned that we are not living in a culture of care anymore, and I want to prioritize taking care of my neighbors,” Hunter said.
She said she has felt sick seeing the news of immigrants being taken by ICE and has felt the impact in the Eastside Santa Barbara neighborhood.
“It has lost a lot of the vibrance that it typically has,” Hunter said. “I’ve noticed that there are not as many parties. There’s not as much music. I know a lot of my neighbors are staying inside. Their kids aren’t playing as much anymore in the front yard. It’s very, very quiet, and I think people are really timid to draw any kind of attention to themselves.”
After the training, Hunter said she wants to be a part of accompanying immigrants to court hearings and other places they may need to go, as well as doing outreach and fundraising.
An 805UndocuFund volunteer and foot soldier who goes by Matthew to protect his identity as a volunteer was part of training people for the rapid response network on Thursday.
Matthew said he worked with 805UndocuFund a few years ago and got involved again because of the new federal administration. Right now, he’s focusing on community outreach and helping to train others for the rapid response network.
“We need that new blood, we need that fresh energy, and we need as many people as possible, because this is an all-encompassing effort, and this is something we’re going to be in for a long time,” Matthew said. “The more people we get on our side, the better chance we have of resisting the evil acts that are being perpetrated on our communities.”
To report ICE sightings to 805UndocuFund, text ALERT to 805.870.8855.
Click here to receive alerts about ICE sightings.
Click here to sign up to be a volunteer for the rapid response network.
Click here to donate to the Emergency Assistance Fund to provide financial aid to undocumented families in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties.