20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 7-13, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Catalina is a long-time Seaside resident and business owner, with stores in Seaside and Watsonville. Her husband, formerly a day laborer who would get gigs at Home Depot, now manages the Watsonville store. They both work seven days a week, and are the parents of three children, ages 23, 18 and 12. Catalina says her life hasn’t changed despite current immigration enforcement policy. But her account of some regular habits, like grocery shopping, show subtle ways in which it has. In July, a man in uniform came into the store and looked at the crafts on display. “Son of a gun! It is going to be someone from immigration,” she says she thought of the customer. “I wanted to run away or ask him, ‘Are you leaving?’” It turned out the uniformed man was a teacher at the Presidio of Monterey. Catalina adds that she only goes out when necessary, such as buying groceries, and she never goes at the same time—she may shop in the morning one week, in the evening the next. Many immigrants migrate to the U.S. looking for the American Dream and to provide a better future for themselves and their families. “All the undocumented people who are here, they come to work. We didn’t come to take anything from anyone,” Catalina says. “I assure you, this country wouldn’t be anything [without us]. Undocumented workers are the ones who do the work.” In June, the Bay Area Council released a report noting mass deportation could have a $275 billion economic impact in California, affecting different industries. Over 25 percent of agricultural workers are undocumented, and 26 percent are construction workers, and according to the report, those industries would contract by 14 and 16 percent, respectively. According to the same report, 1 out of 5 immigrants in California are undocumented, roughly 2.3 million people accounting for 8 percent of all workers in the state. They also contribute about 5 percent of California’s gross domestic product and contribute over $23 billion annually in local, state and federal taxes. In Monterey County, nearly 128,000 immigrant residents paid $850 million in taxes and have $2.5 billion in spending power, according to the American Immigration Council. There are 6,764 immigrant entrepreneurs. As of 2013, the most recent date when such estimates were released, 62,000 immigrants in Monterey and San Benito counties were believed to be undocumented. Even unconfirmed rumors about the presence of ICE have caused panic. Adriana Melgoza is executive director of the Watsonville Law Center and a leader of the Solidarity Network, a volunteer-led rapid response group of legal observers who monitor immigration enforcement activities in Monterey County. She says rumors affect workers emotionally and financially. In one case, when ICE was not even present, she says a farmworker spent 45 minutes hiding under strawberry boxes. “That is really heartbreaking,” Melgoza says, “to hear that a worker who’s just working, who is out there trying to make a living, is hiding under boxes because of fear.” As ICE raids shook Los Angeles earlier this summer, the response to anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles was militarized. Then U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles on June 12. A few days later, more than 40 officials from Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties and business industry leaders gathered for a press conference to express support for the immigrant community locally. “ICE operations have torn families apart and targeted immigrant workers, including farm workers. These actions are not just unjust, they are often unconstitutional, violating due process and civil rights in ways we simply cannot accept,” County Supervisor Luis Alejo said. “If it’s happening there, it can happen here, and it could happen to any of us. “Immigrant workers are the backbone of our local economy, from our fields to our hotels, our restaurants, our construction sites and our child care and elder care facilities. Their contributions are essential in so many ways.” Last year, anticipating the rollout of Trump’s policies, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors approved an ad hoc committee focused on immigrants’ rights, focused on providing information and resources to the undocumented community in Monterey County. “When this issue is talked about on the national scale, they’re talked about as if these are just people somewhere else. But when local residents start seeing this could be our neighbors, our coworkers, friends or your family members, the perception from the public on this issue will change dramatically,” says Alejo, who serves on the committee. After ICE arrests, ICE media officials send out press releases via email with detainees’ photos and alleged crimes and strongly worded headlines such as “ICE Arrests Worst of Worst Criminal Illegal Aliens” or “ICE Arrests Murderers, Pedophiles, and Rapists Over the Weekend.” In reality, most immigrants who are detained don’t have criminal records. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s own data, of 56,945 detainees, only 28 percent have a criminal conviction. According to tracreports.org, a database created by Syracuse University, the top five nationalities with the most deportation orders are from Latin About 200 people marched in Seaside on Feb. 3 in support of “A Day Without Immigrants,” a nationwide movement that encourages immigrants to skip work, school or shopping to highlight the importance of immigrants’ contributions in the United States, and to protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. DANIEL DREIFUSS
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