“We don’t have anybody representing individuals in immigrant detention here in Santa Barbara County,” Anahi Mendoza explains to me in a soothing and calm demeanor. She’s the executive director of the Santa Barbara County Immigrant Legal Defense Center (ILDC), a new nonprofit coalition that’s enlisting volunteer attorneys to represent undocumented immigrants during their removal proceedings. The center is also educating the community about their rights when they encounter agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Born in Mexico herself, Anahi’s crusade is deeply personal. “When I was 4, my mother came to visit her family in Santa Barbara with her two daughters,” Anahi says. “Dad stayed in Mexico and we overstayed their visas. I knew I was undocumented since I was little.”
Anahi attended Isla Vista Elementary and Goleta Valley Junior High. When her dad came to the country, they moved the family to Santa Maria. For one year, Anahi commuted to Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, but then tired of the trek and switched to Santa Maria High. There, she founded a Dream Club to help undocumented students to apply to college, and graduated as valedictorian in 2011.