Liccardo hosts listening session on immigration concerns in Half Moon Bay

That is creating an extreme culture of fear within the immigrant community, both nationwide and in San Mateo County. In Half Moon Bay, members of the Latino, immigrant and coastside community at large gathered to express those anxieties and ask for clarification from Liccardo Jan. 31, at a forum hosted by Latino arts and programming organization Ayudando Latinos A Soñar.

Political responses to Trump’s immigration orders will vary based on the situation — some, like the issue of birthright citizenship, will go to the justice system, Liccardo said.

However, Democrats hold a minority in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, Liccardo reminded the audience, making legislative stopgaps to the Trump immigration doctrine an uphill battle in many cases.

That means it’s all the more integral for communities and legislators to be politically active, making the case that immigrants benefit the American economy and culture and creating blue inroads in the midterms, Liccardo said.

“In some situations, we are going to fight in the courts,” he said. “In some cases, we’re going to be very vocal in the media, trying to demonstrate to people throughout the country that, without our immigrant communities, we are all less well off.”

Some speakers, like ALAS spokesperson Victoria Sanchez De Alba, emphasized that undocumented immigrants positively contribute to American communities, paying $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022.

“I think what we need to do is change the narrative,” she said. “All they do is say [immigrants] take, take, take, and that’s not true. They contribute.”

Liccardo discussed key immigration-related issues like sanctuary city policies and the prospect of mass deportation raids. Many liberal communities, including San Mateo County, have no-cooperation policies with federal law enforcement agencies, labelling themselves as “sanctuary cities.”

“If we don’t have that policy in place, then people will not call 911 when there is a fire, when there is a sexual assault,” he said.

But no local entity has the power to stop federal immigration officers from acting on an arrest warrant, Liccardo emphasized.

“The truth is, no city can really do that. No city is really in power to stop a federal officer to execute an [arrest] warrant and arrest somebody,” he said.

It’s also important to understand the difference between immigration agents coming to arrest and deport an individual and large-scale, random raids at workplaces or stores, he said. To his knowledge, the latter has not been seen in the area.

Coastside residents emphasized the toll that the rhetoric and action around immigration in recent days is taking, highlighting feelings of helplessness and deteriorating mental health. But another underlying thread throughout the conversation focused on the increasing necessity of community.

“We’re going to be the answer for our community in so many ways,” ALAS Executive Director Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga said. “It takes all of us to be there, to create a cocoon of protection, a cocoon of support, a cocoon of love and advocacy.”