Page 30 - Sonoma County Gazette Sept 2017

Sonoma County’s
Immigration Initiative
Please see Page 5 for PUBLIC MEETINGS on the UPDATES for the Immigration Intiative. You are encourgaed to attend
as well as give input to our Supervisors.
Trunk or Treat
While immigration and immigrant rights have long been an issue of importance to Sonoma County, current federal and state executive and legislative actions require the County to reassess the needs of undocumented community members with respect to services and legal protection. Legal and political shifts have caused a high-level fear and anxiety in our communities. This anxiety has led to the withdrawal of families from government sponsored programs, including schools, health and human services, underreporting of crimes, and concern by employers in local industries of potential indiscriminate workplace raids. This has serious impacts on the safety and well-being of our communities.
By Serena Makofsky
KBBF was as busy as ever this summer. There were fundraising events at
To address these issues, the Board of Supervisors approved the County Immigration Initiative to improve the safety of our communities and enhance access to services for undocumented residents and their families. Speci cally, the Immigration Initiative includes the following:
Participants can register for free so long as they bring plenty of candy for the kids and decorate their ride – the more decked out the better, as trophies are awarded. Snacks, pizza, tamales, cookies, and pozole are sold, with
all proceeds benefitting KBBF. The event takes place on Saturday, October 21st, from 6 to 9pm, at 1700 Corby Avenue, Suite B, in Santa Rosa. For more information, contact the station at (707) 545-8833.
Assessing County and Community Programs – Identifying services for immigrants, analyzing the su ciency of those services as compared with the need, conducting a service gap analysis, and researching and assessing opportunities for the County to support legal services for immigrants either within the County or within community organizations.
Seeking Donations To encourage over-the-top showboating in the lowrider car and bike entries at Trunk or Treat, the organizers seek original welded works of art and sculpted creations to use as awards. Old school trophies are also welcome. Contact Sonja via KBBF’s Facebook page if you can support the cause.
Get Your Program Information RadioLand reader and KBBF listener Lucy wrote in with a question: Could you tell me the performer of the music you played today at little before 2pm? It was Take Five for piano.Thanks so much for tuning in, Lucy! The Take Five segment was not part of KBBF’s original programming, but pre-recorded. If another reader has more information about this segment, please let us know. In the meantime, you can always consult our revamped website, https://kbbf.org, for the most up-to-date information. There is a page devoted to KBBF programsthat is organized in a calendar format. We hope this helps!
Rising Up In wake of the white supremacist marches and violence
in Charlottesville, Virginia, the KBBF community responded. Almost immediately, Laura González started organizing a collective response to stand in solidarity with the people of Charlottesville and others profoundly affected by racial hatred and oppression. The result was a peaceful vigil and informational gathering: No Nazis, No KKK, No Fascist USA! The day was an inspiring call to action. Signs read “The Power of the People is Stronger than the People in Power” and “This Cannot Become the New Normal.”
Creating an Information Hub – Developing an online central information source for the community and distributing information to clients on immigrant rights, family preparedness, and services. This includes consolidating and disseminating information on available trainings, programs and developments in this area, organizing and informing volunteers and service providers, as well as establishing a dedicated email address and other methods of receiving and disseminating information.
Legislative Advocacy – Researching and analyzing current and recently introduced or enacted immigration laws and executive orders to understand the legal and political landscape, identify opportunities to advocate for change at the State and Federal levels, and weigh any potential risks associated with those e orts. As part of this work the Board has supported SB 6 (Hueso) and AB 3 (Bonta), which would increase funding and training for legal services, and SB 54 (De Leon), which would generally prevent the use of state and local funds to aid federal deportation action and create service provider safe zones.
RESOURCES: http://sonomacounty.ca.gov/CAO/Immigration-Initiative/ Resources/immigration@sonoma-county.org 707-565-2431
Teach-In Action begins with education. Thus, community groups are organizing ongoing events to keep people informed and involved in issues concerning race and racism in the United States. On August 19th, the Community Action Coalition and North Bay Organizing Project took to Old Courthouse Square to hold a teach-in, Show Up for Charlottesville: Confront White Supremacy. The lively discussion was both a general response to
Child Deportation Defense Program
The Child Deportation Defense Program is pro-bono legal services program run by the County Counsel’s O ce that provides representation to children who have ed violent conditions in their home countries and have been detained at the U.S. border and placed in deportation proceedings. The number of these children detained by the Department of Homeland Security has increased from an average of 6,500 per year prior to 2011 to 60,000 in 2016. Although mostly teenage boys in 2011, the number of girls, including pregnant and parenting teens, and younger children has steadily increased.
the Movement for Black Live to challenge symbols and also a more specific discussion of Sonoma, California’s historic Bear Flag Revolt. In the words of the organizers, “This revolt led to the theft of the Californian territory from Mexico as well as the targeted persecution of Mexican and Native American people
National statistics show that while a majority of these children likely had a legal basis to stay in the U.S., without an attorney 90% were deported to face abuse and possible death in their country of origin.
Fiesta de Independencia Luther Burbank Center for the Arts hosts
its annual Fiesta de Independencia Sunday, September 17, 2017 from 1pm to 7pm. The free event highlights the North Bay’s diverse cultures, particularly the tastes, sounds, and sights of Mexico and other Latino cultures. The Center’s Latino Advisory Council honors Latino Heritage Month and Mexican Independence Day with family-friendly activities, authentic food, music, games, and performances. Some highlights include the low-rider car show and music from Mariachi Barragan, Banda Toro, and Sonora Tropicana.
Pitch in at KBBF and relish learning something new while contributing to the community. For more information, contact KBBF at (707) 545-8833 or email us at info@KBBF-fm.org, attention Judy
The Board rst approved the County program in late 2014 and recently renewed its obligation to assist these unaccompanied children. Donated training for the program has been provided by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and volunteer mentor immigration attorneys have been recruited from the community.
Call for Volunteers
To date, 7 Sonoma County children have been served, 4 have been granted legal status, 2 found private counsel through a parent, and 1 is in process.
The Project has been honored with awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and has served as the model for similar programs in Santa Clara County and the Los Angeles Uni ed School District.
30 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 9/17
the station, including the ARTStravaganza and the night of cumbia with Los Ritmicos. Now, preparations are underway for Trunk or Treat, KBBF’s fourth annual pre-Halloween, family-oriented party. The message: “Bring out the lowlows or your euro, project, masterpiece, lowrider bike.”.
by white settlers.” For further information about future actions and meetings, consult the Facebook pages of CAC and NBOP.