Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:01:34] So I wanted to focus on San Jose because it’s the biggest city in the Bay Area. It has a huge immigrant population.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:01:42] Carlos Cabrera Lomeli is a community engagement reporter for KQED.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:01:47] But I wanted to focus on East San Jose because that’s where the majority of the city’s Latino immigrant population is concentrated and it’s also where you’re gonna see a lot of community spaces where you gonna run into people, where they go shop, where they meet up with friends and family.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:02:02] And you went in particular to Placita Tropicana in San Jose, which is sort of like your typical sort of San Jose strip mall, is that how you might describe it?
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:02:14] Yeah, so Placita Tropicana is on the corner of Story and King Roads, and it’s existed for over 50 years, and every store is either owned by immigrant families or is serving immigrant families in the area. It’s usually quite crowded, it’s usually super busy, but the past few months Tropicanna has been super empty so the vibe there has shifted.
Elizabeth Ramirez [00:02:41] When the word spreads that immigration agents are at Tropicana, everyone disappears. The place becomes totally empty and our sales go down.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:02:46] One of the people that we met that day was Elizabeth Ramirez, who works at a clothing shop boutique at Placita Tropicana.
Elizabeth Ramirez [00:02:53] That’s why I like to pass on the message that they gave me. So folks feel a little bit safer.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:03:01] She says that when someone comes into her store and they have like a nervous look in their face, she can usually assume that it’s because they’re scared, they left their house, they’re in a very public, visible place, and that’s understandable. Earlier this summer, we saw how ICE operated in LA and folks saw those images. Has ICE conducted a mass operation in Placita Tropicana? No, but still, that’s a really big fear in people’s minds.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:03:41] I mean, have there been any notable immigration and customs enforcement actions in San Jose in the last few months as we sort of have seen this uptick in ICE actions all over the state?
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:03:56] ICE has been active in San Jose, in East San Jose in very specific operations, but it’s hard to calculate a number because so much of what community members’ residents are reporting as ICE activity, a lot of time also just ends up being San Jose Police Department or Santa Clara Sheriff’s deputies. The anxiety that people have, it’s making them report things that are not ICE as ICE. So misinformation has really, really taken a big step here.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:04:27] How are people in San Jose responding to that?
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:04:31] I was at Elizabeth’s store with Socorro Montaño, who’s one of the leaders of LUNA, which stands for Latinas United for New America.
Socorro Montaño [00:04:45] We had volunteers at the scene and we were also in contact with the mayor of Santa Clara, and they all…
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:04:47] Soccoro was there to talk with Elizabeth about the Rapid Response Network and give Elizabeth red and yellow cards so that she can distribute to her clients.
Socorro Montaño [00:04:56] [00:04:56] [0.0s] I wanted to ask, how many more cards do you want?
Elizabeth Ramirez [00:04:58] I had some from last time, when the girl from Colombia brought some in …
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:05:02] Red card which states what your rights are if you encounter a federal immigration officer and then there’s these yellow cards that say protect our community report ICE activity if you see ICE on the street if ICE knocks on your door if ICE detains a loved one.
Elizabeth Ramirez [00:05:26] The thing I love is that by just knowing the network’s number, you can help remove the fear.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:05:27] You know, Elizabeth asked her, is it common for you to see misinformation online? And she’s like, yes. People think that ICE is a Placita Tropicana almost every day. So, you know, she gives people that number because she believes that that actually makes her community stronger.
Socorro Montaño [00:05:43] Well, I’m going to leave you these cards.
Elizabeth Ramirez [00:05:48] Yes, thank you, Socorro, I appreciate this. Thank you.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:05:55] A recent study shows that in school districts where there’s been an increase in ICE activity, especially in the Central Valley, there were more absences. People are missing work. That has a huge impact on the community. That’s a financial impact. That’s social impact. That’s mental health impact. So countering that with community-driven information and fact-checking, that’s the strategy of the rapid response now.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:06:37] I feel like I keep hearing about these rapid response networks, which are really all over the Bay Area, right? They’re not really just in San Jose. But when did this rapid response network start in San José specifically?
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:07:06] The Rapid Response Network in Santa Clara County has existed for almost a decade. A handful of volunteers got together back in 2016 after Trump won his first term. This year, its work has become more urgent. The number of folks involved has grown exponentially.
Socorro Montaño [00:07:25] Rapid response really changed my brain and changed the way I see what’s possible because when rapid response sends alerts, they’re not asking the government for permission.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:07:35] There’s 11 organizations that help run it but it’s made out of hundreds of volunteers and something that Socorro told me is that you don’t have to be you know a full-time organizer to be part of the network.
Socorro Montaño [00:07:48] Everybody is part of the network and that’s another thing I love. Everybody who has our number saved is part if the network, everybody who’s ever called us or shared the number with a loved one.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:07:56] But what we’ve seen now is that there’s such a demand for lawyers, for immigration lawyers, that the network can only connect people to an attorney in very select instances. People ask, oh, if I call this number, will I get a lawyer? Will I get an attorney? And they have to clarify that. No, that’s not necessarily the case. That’s only very limited in very serious situations.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:08:25] Yeah, and it sounds like now really their focus is in sharing really important information, preparing community members for a worst-case scenario. How about when an ICE raid is like literally happening in real time? Like how exactly does the network respond?
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:08:46] I’ll describe a hypothetical situation. We’re in Alam Rock, we’re in East San Jose and I hear, you know, some things going on. I hear people arguing or shouting. I come out and I do see my neighbor being detained. I am going to call the Rapid Responses Network before I start posting on social media. The dispatcher picks up, I describe what’s happening, as that’s happening the dispatcher has already alerted responders. Trained volunteers that within minutes can go to where I am. What they’re going to do is they’re not going to intervene, they’re not going to block agents. What they are going to do is observe, see what agents are doing, how many people are being detained, who’s affected, and once the responders have confirmed or verified if that’s ICE or not, they’re gonna alert the rest of the network. Church leaders, teachers, labor organizers. Folks that have a big reach who are also part of other WhatsApp groups, Facebook chats, and let them know. Once ICE agents have left, responders will also then notify the rest of the network about that too, so that people can keep moving through that area once more.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:09:59] It’s clear to me how these organizations and how the people running this response network are really thinking about why this sort of community-led, on-the-ground network is really important right now. But I wanna ask you about the people who are part of this network as volunteers. What did you hear from them about why it’s important to be part of this network right now?
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:10:28] As part of my day shadowing, Socorro, we also visited the office of SIREN. That stands for Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network. SIREN is another group that’s part of the network.
Maria Aceves [00:10:40] We know that man will only be in power for four years, but in those four years they can destroy us.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:10:45] I met a couple that have volunteered with SIREN for years, Maria and her husband Eliseo.
Eliseo Aceves [00:10:52] The most important or the most satisfying thing for me is when someone calls. I had a call yesterday, by the way, I wanted to share
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:10:57] Maria shared that sometimes it’s frustrating to, you know, to be on the phone because people, you know if they’re scared, if they are calling seeking immigration help, they can’t provide that. At the same time, she feels a lot of satisfaction when she can fact check somebody, let somebody know that what they saw online isn’t true, that they can go about their day.
Maria Aceves [00:11:33] But I tell them, it’s better to be prepared, go out and look for information, find out what you can do, how you can defend yourself instead of staying at home.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:11:34] She likes that part of the work, making sure that people feel okay walking through their neighborhood again.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:11:47] I wonder if she herself is scared. Or feels worried about the things happening in her neighborhood as it relates to ICE.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:11:57] Something that Maria shared with me is that her daughter, who’s about my age, so in her 20s, told Maria to stop volunteering because, you know, she’s nervous for her mom. She’s nervous that her mom may be a target for federal law enforcement. But Maria responded. She said, hey, I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive. This is something that’s important to me.
Maria Aceves [00:12:21] [00:12:21] [0.0s] My daughter sometimes tells me, ‘Mom, you shouldn’t go [volunteer] anymore.’ But I tell her, ‘Honey, I’ve done this work for longer than you’ve been alive. And I like it.’
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:12:32] She sees other moms not even leaving their own homes because of how afraid they feel. She doesn’t wanna be like that. She acknowledges the risks and she also acknowledges how important this work is for her.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:12:48] I get the sense that that’s really a big motivation for a lot of the folks who are part of this network and behind it. I mean, thinking back to Socorro, like, what do they tell you about their motivation behind doing this?
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:13:05] Spending the day with Socorro, something I learned from them is that they’re very proud about being from San Jose.
Socorro Montaño [00:13:12] So I’m a Bay kid and San Jose is part of the Bay until I die. That’s something I believe.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:13:18] Living their whole life in San Jose has really shaped them and drives their commitment to this work because they see being part of San Jose means protecting immigrant communities.
Socorro Montaño [00:13:30] Most of my classmates were immigrants themselves or children of immigrants. Most of our teachers were as well. And so when I look at like the person I’ve become, it is a product of the communities that I was raised in. And so again, the person who was born and raised in San Jose and the person who’s still dedicated to the San Jose community were one and the same.
Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí [00:13:51] More than 40% of people living in San Jose were born in other countries, whether we’re talking about Silicon Valley or the agricultural field that once used to, you know, dominate the landscape, that’s all driven by immigrant labor. Socorro, you now, they said this, like when we have, you knows, spaces that we love, it’s not just about, you no, having them, but about consistently protecting them, sustaining them.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra [00:14:23] Well, Carlos, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us, I appreciate it.
