Newsletter: Community Gathers to Learn How to Support San Diego Immigrants
Hello everyone!
Dozens of community members gathered last week to discuss how painful and terrifying immigration enforcement has become for San Diego's immigrant communities and how they can get involved to help protect their neighbors.
Our event, “A Light on Immigration: What San Diegans need to know about immigration arrests and how they can help,” featured a presentation from Detention Resistance, a panel of five community leaders and breakout discussions with panelists and audience members.
Though the conversation began with a bleak timeline of increasing arrests at the federal building where Detention Resistance monitors immigration court and Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in offices, by the end of the discussion, audience members knew about many ways they could have positive impacts on the lives of those affected, from accompanying people to hearings to donating money for commissary accounts for people in custody to monitoring neighborhoods for signs of ICE.
“Everyone has a role to play in ensuring that your community is safe,” said Ruth Mendez, a volunteer with Detention Resistance. “It even means getting to know your neighbor, asking people like, ‘Hey, you know, I do know that maybe there might be some vulnerable folks. Do they need me to go through their groceries for them?’ Because, you know, it might calm them right in the moment.”
Three members from Detention Resistance, a volunteer-based collective that supports immigrants at the Edward Schwartz Federal Building downtown during their court hearings and check-in appointments, and those detained in the Otay Mesa Detention Center, said arrests at the federal building have increased since they began witnessing in May.
The group first started documenting arrests as people exited their court hearings in May — something that had never happened before — Mendez said. They alerted the community, and San Diegans stepped up to support people who had their court hearings that day.
“What's happening at the courthouse is creating what we call the courthouse trap,” said Amanda S., another collective member who asked to not be fully identified for fear of harassment. “So folks are forced to decide between, ‘Am I going to comply with the law, go to my immigration hearing and face getting arrested in the hallway by masked men, or do I not show up and have a removal order issued for me?’”
You can see the full timeline of events presented by the collective here.
Some attorneys have argued to immigration judges that their clients have credible fear to not come to their hearings because of the arrests, but in San Diego, judges have generally not approved virtual hearings. Some people decided not to come to their hearings, risking the possibility of being ordered deported in absentia.
“They're afraid to come. There's masked men in the hallways,” Amanda said. “There's no rhyme or reason as to who's getting detained.”
In October, volunteers witnessed exercise mats being delivered to the federal building, raising the alarm that people were being held in the basement for over 12 hours, said Bunni Moon, another collective member who is using a pseudonym. This discovery led to two attempted visits from members of Congress, whom ICE did not allow in.
The group ended the presentation demanding that the Otay Mesa Detention Center be shut down.
The panel featured Maria Chavez, the immigration legal director at Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans and the owner of Maria Chavez Law; Mendez from Detention Resistance; Thao Ha, a Vietnamese refugee, professor of sociology at MiraCosta College and the founder of Collective Freedom, an organization supporting Southeast Asian refugees with removal orders; Adriana Jasso, a member of Unión del Barrio, who currently works on expanding community self-defense patrols across San Diego and other parts of California; and an unnamed asylum seeker, who was detained by ICE after her court hearing earlier this year and spent several months at Otay Mesa Detention Center.
Jasso noted that while Union del Barrio has done community patrols since 1993, the organization reactivated them in 2018. Lately, the organization has noticed a particularly high concentration of ICE activity through the Southcrest neighborhood, Escondido and San Marcos.
Ha of Collective Freedom said Southeast Asians face unique struggles when it comes to immigration enforcement. The majority impacted now, Ha noted, are former refugees who came here in the 1970s and 1980s, had green cards, but got entangled with the criminal justice system. After 1996, when the immigration laws changed, they became removable, but Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia wouldn't accept them.
“So as stateless individuals, they stayed,” Ha said. “They lived lives under ICE check-ins, never eligible for any other type of status, except to be removable.”
But the removal orders were never enforced until the first Trump administration, and now, during this second term, approximately 17,000 Southeast Asians living in the U.S. have removal orders, she said.
Mendez of Detention Resistance said the organization's members provide support through commissary funds and communications to those detained in the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
“Whenever I ask them, ‘What would you like me to share?’” she said, “they always want us to uplift their conditions.”
She described the poor food quality, noting that many people survive off of the Maruchan Cup of Noodles they can buy at the commissary. She also said many people have to sleep on the floor due to overcrowding at the facility.
The unnamed asylum seeker echoed the poor conditions of detention, noting the chains she was put in — shackled at her wrists, waist and ankles — during transport.
“Remembering makes me think about all those bad feelings I felt in that moment,” she said in Spanish.
In the Zoom chat, audience members asked if they could bring food to detainees. Mendez explained that they could only send commissary funds and said anyone interested in participating in visits with those detained could reach out to Detention Resistance.
Chavez noted that a big misconception among people now is believing that if they’ve never been arrested, if they've been working and doing things the right way, they won’t be impacted.
“I'm having to explain this to people — they don't care,” Chavez said. “They don't care about you. You were born, unfortunately, on the other side of some imaginary line created by colonists, however many years ago. And that's not your fault, and I'm sorry.”
— Maya Srikrishnan
Matias, a dual citizen of Argentina and Italy detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at Otay Mesa Detention Center said that he's staying on a hunger strike until he gets information about his application for a visa as a victim of human trafficking. Wednesday marked two weeks since his last meal.
— Kate Morrissey
Where to find food distribution throughout San Diego
People who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been struggling to feed their families ever since the federal government shutdown started last month. Here are some local options if you’re looking to access food resources this month. And if you’re looking to give back to the community this holiday season, many of the organizations are also collecting funds and non-perishable items to support their food distribution efforts.
— Lauren J. Mapp
Día de los Muertos celebrated for third year in Barrio Logan
Catrinas and catrines paraded Logan Avenue last month, celebrating Día de los Muertos for the neighborhood’s third year.
— Brittany Cruz-Fejeran
The Trump administration’s deportation flights to Mexican southern border towns of Tapachula and Villahermosa leave people stranded with few resources — and in many cases no phones.
— Kate Morrissey for Capital & Main
Restrictions near federal buildings
A new regulation from the Department of Homeland Security that recently went into effect prohibits loud noise, the distribution of information materials, taking videos and photos that obstruct operations and more near federal buildings.
— Kate Morrissey for Capital & Main
Other news
The San Diego region could get up to three inches of rain this weekend from a Pacific storm, KPBS reported.
The number of people held in county jails has increased since police across the county began enforcing crimes tied to Proposition 36, Voice of San Diego reported.
An arrangement proposed by County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer calls for the San Diego Foundation to partner with the county to boost social safety-net programs in light of restrictions for Medicaid and food assistance passed by Congress, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The Sheriff’s Office will begin testing biometric monitoring devices to alert staff when someone in jail is in medical distress as part of an effort to reduce deaths in custody, the Union-Tribune reported.
National City nonprofit Olivewood Gardens, which provides fresh food and nutritional programs in one of the county’s most underserved communities, will take over management of the Tijuana River Valley Community Garden to keep it from closing, Voice of San Diego reported.
A proposal to levy a vacation rental tax of up to $5,000 per bedroom per year is making its way through city hall, KPBS reported.
Upcoming Events
Nov. 15
Feria del Vinilo Tijuana: The Tijuana Vinyl Fair will celebrate 60 years of “Whipped Cream and Other Delights” — an album by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass — with special activities, exhibits and music. Nov. 15 and 16 starting at 11 a.m., Pje. Rodríguez, Zona Centro, 22000 Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Plant Swap and Art Exhibition: Classy Casita and Sip & Swap are hosting a free plant swap and art exhibition at North Park Nursery. The event will feature complimentary mocktails, loteria, art by Yearbook Creative Club and music by DJ Mae Or Mae Not. 12 - 4 p.m., 2335 University Ave., San Diego, CA 92104
Sad Fest 2025: Unapologetic Pro is hosting a festival with live lucha libre wrestling, food vendors, music and more. 12 p.m. - 7 p.m., Mujeres Brew House, 1983 Julian Ave, San Diego, CA 92113
Painting in Sidro: Casa Familiar and The Front Arte Cultura are hosting a painting club. Guests are invited to bring their own material for works in progress or to start something new. Snacks are provided. 1 - 5 p.m., 147 W San Ysidro Blvd., San Diego, CA 92173
Building a Safer San Diego: The county and the city of San Diego are hosting an event focused on community disaster preparedness. Attendees can learn about local emergency alerts and the Partner Relay Program, which shares information with those who do not speak English. 1 - 3 p.m., Skyline Hills Recreation Center, 8285 Skyline Drive, San Diego, CA 92114
Winter Bird Walk: The San Diego Bird Alliance is hosting a free guided winter bird walk through the Rose Creek Salt March and Estuary, starting at Mission Bay High School. 2:45 p.m., Mission Bay High School, 2475 Grand Ave., San Diego, CA 92109
Collage Show Opening: Centro Cultural de la Raza is hosting an opening reception for collage artist Paula Botelho’s “Cutting Paper, Creating the Improbable” gallery exhibit, which will be on display through Dec. 7. 6 - 9 p.m., Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2004 Park Blvd., San Diego, CA 92101
Nov. 16
POC Community Market: Tianguis de la Raza holds its POC Community Market with kids activities, food, music, artisans, workshops, art and food on the third Sunday of each month. 12 - 5 p.m., Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2004 Park Blvd., San Diego, CA 92101
SURJ Potluck: The Showing Up for Racial Justice San Diego chapter is hosting an end of year potluck. Educator, advocate and organizer Blair Overstreet will lead a discussion on surviving the holidays with family with conservative political leanings. RSVP for free online. 2 - 4 p.m., Church of the Brethren, 3850 Westgate Place, San Diego, CA 92105
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