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South Bay officials reassure residents, brace for Trump-ordered mass deportations
Dozens of South Bay officials and law enforcement gathered on Friday to reassure a jittery public Santa Clara County will remain a sanctuary in the face of possible deportation raids during a second Trump presidency.
San Jose, CA - Three-days after Donald Trump's election to the White House for a second term, some communities in the Bay Area are bracing for the worst and banding together in a show of solidarity.
"We want the world to know we stand together with immigrant communities. That is why we're here," said Maria Leticia Gomez, a spokesperson for Santa Clara County.
At the center of Silicon Valley political, social, and economic power, on Friday, a cross-section of the community gathered with signs and stood shoulder-to-shoulder amid fears of what the incoming president might do.
"Not only are we repeating it, but this is a more intense version of what happened in 2016. Because now we have an administration that knows its way around," said Sylvia Arenas, the Dist. 1 rep on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
A second incarnation of a Trump White House is poised to take power in January. This, after Tuesday's Election Day victory delivered the presidency to the GOP.
"In just the past few days there have been so many instances where the staff have been given space to be sad and to be angry and to make space for themselves. They've expressed a lot of fear," said Danna Elneil, the member engagement manager for the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits. Added board of supervisors President Susan Ellenberg, "Today, many of us feel that our country and even our state are taking a step backward." And San Jose City Council Dist. 6 rep Dev Davis said, "We are ready to fight again. And this time we know what to expect."
The expectation by many in the South Bay is that the Trump administration will carry out its threats to deport migrants who've entered the country illegally.
"I was on the bus to get deported," said Eladio Cortes Morales of SIREN (Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network).
He said he would have been deported, after serving a prison term, for being in the country illegally back in 2022 if not for local efforts to fight for his rights. Morales said others in the community fear that could be their fate in the near future.
"We all have uniqueness in our story. But it's normal that they try and deport you. Even if you show you have rehabilitated," he said.
The dozens of groups, government leaders and law enforcement officials gathered at the county building stressed to the community at-large that Santa Clara County will not cooperate with immigration raids and will remain a sanctuary for all.
"We will not pass along to ICE anyone that's in our custody. We haven't, and we won't do it in the future," said county Sheriff Bob Jonsen. Added county Executive James Williams, "We will stand united and stand together for the values that represent Santa Clara County, and shine that beacon from here across the Bay Area, across California, across the United States." And San Jose City Council Dist. 5 rep Peter Ortiz said, "San Jose will always be a sanctuary city, and member of the Rapid Response Network to protect our citizens from the threat of deportation."
Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on the Instagram platform, @jessegontv and on Facebook, @JesseKTVU