On either side of a debate over federal overreach, distrust and animosity are to be found. In Washington D.C., federal employees and career politicians are being ordered to tow the company line. Federal administrators and immigration agents aren’t the only ones prepared to take extrajudicial measures, however. Throughout the nation, extra steps have been made to protect undocumented residents, and people in Sacramento don’t have to work hard to find examples in their city. Many public institutions and community organizations in the Sacramento region have come together to reject federal mandates that seek to deport undocumented residents. Alongside these communal endeavors, the Los Rios Community College District, the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers and the Los Rios Police Department have also been preparing for the wrath of federal budgetary surgeons and xenophobic opportunists.
Currently, Donald Trump’s administration is consolidating power in a fashion seldom seen in American political discourse. The White House has recently revoked the legal status of immigrants from countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, while at the same time detaining political dissenting immigrants such as Mahmound Khalil. All of this is occurring while right-wing celebrities and politicians glorify the deportation of immigrants on social media, and high-ranking civil servants like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Caleb Vitello are being removed from their role in place of the current U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who is engaged in a witch hunt of whistleblowers within the department.
In Sacramento, anyone in attendance at the Feb 22 pro-immigrant rally at Cesar Chavez Park may have noticed several people wearing black with yellow armbands. These individuals act as security for the event, an effort NorCal Resist considered appropriate given the aggressive rhetoric about United States deportation policy. Members of the Sacramento community feel it necessary to undermine state security to offer their protection for the protesters, as well as the immigrant and undocumented community. When tyrannical forces level the first volleys against liberty , it’s commonly leveled toward the underrepresented. In light of the Trump administration introducing aggressive immigration enforcement which ignores previously established safe space laws, it’s clear that the mechanisms the administration has at their disposal to bypass the rule of law can be applied universally.
The LRCFT, as the union representation of the LRCCD faculty body, has issued directives to its members on how to handle the appearance of ICE in their classrooms. Suffice it to say, the directive preaches noncompliance with federal immigration enforcement, instead demanding adherence to the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the privacy of student educational records and identifiable information. Further, they have strict guidelines for the appearance of ICE in their classrooms, warranted or otherwise.
The LRCCD administration has been the primary facilitator in sharing information with the faculty and student body, with a series of events, webinars, and informational web pages.
State laws like SB 54, or the California Value Act, prohibit law enforcement from participating in removal operations.
LRCCD Police Chief Harvey Woo made it clear in an LRCCD board meeting on Feb 13 that his police department represents the local community, instead of an appendage of the state to be feared.
“Of the 22 sworn police officers, 13 are either immigrants or children of immigrants,” Woo said of his police force. “We are not immigration enforcement.”
This is in stark contrast to other law enforcement agencies in California, such as Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman who told the Sacramento Bee that he wants to have more discretion in being able to contact ICE when someone is released from jail.
The mindset of protecting all California residents isn’t shared among all law enforcement agencies throughout the state. At a minimum, however, undocumented people can stay close to the Sacramento metro area where safe spaces exist regardless of federal mandate.
These minor, collective actions of noncompliance by public institutions and community organizations represent a loss of control by the Trump administration. The tone of the administration’s reaction is frustration and aggression, as seen in Trump’s most recent threat on his social media platform. In the post, he threatened to pull federal funding for colleges and universities that allow protests.
Other colleges and communities may capitulate, but within the culture found at LRCCD, immigrant students are welcome and the purveyors of tyranny are not.
