Prepare, educate, resist. That was the advice repeatedly offered Friday night to more than 150 immigrants and members of Santa Barbara’s Latino community who filled the pews of Trinity.
Episcopal Church for a forum titled “How to Prepare Your Family in Case of a Deportation,” which featured speakers from the Mexican Consulate, Santa Barbara Police Department, Santa Barbara Unified School District, and the city’s faith community.
Jonathan Elias Alvarez-Alzua, consul of community affairs in the Oxnard consulate, assured the audience that despite rumors and media reports to the contrary, federal immigration agents are not conducting indiscriminate arrest raids. As they have under previous administrations, Alvarez-Alzua said, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are targeting specific undocumented immigrants with criminal records for deportation.