The City of Santa Barbara will hold an Emergency Town Hall on Tuesday evening in response to immigration enforcement in the region. The meeting, which will be co-hosted by the 805 Immigration Coalition, will be held at the Franklin Neighborhood Center on East Montecito Street, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Councilmembers Oscar Gutierrez, Wendy Santamaria, and Kristen Sneddon announced the emergency meeting via social media late Sunday afternoon. The City of Carpinteria held its own special city council meeting regarding immigration enforcement on July 10, just hours after large-scale federal raids hit two Glass House Farms locations in Carpinteria and Camarillo. The Department of Homeland Security says the two raids resulted in more than 300 arrests, though the vast majority of those arrests occurred in Camarillo, with immigration rights’ advocates estimating that 10 people were taken in Carpinteria.
Councilmember Sneddon, who has been requesting a city meeting regarding immigration, posted a statement on social media just after the raids, in which she said she stood with the City of Carpinteria, the elected officials that were on scene at the raids, and the community “against the militarization of agents against peaceful workers and protestors.”
“We don’t need ICE here,” Councilmember Sneddon said. “We need to stand together in unity against these raids. We need our community members back.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors announced that it would also be discussing recent immigration enforcement in its regular meeting on Tuesday morning. The item was added to the agenda on Friday, with the intention of discussing the community impact of immigration enforcement and possible responses from the county.
The Emergency Town Hall will begin Tuesday, July 15 at 6:30 p.m. at 1136 East Montecito Street. The meeting will have live interpretation for Spanish-speaking attendees.
