Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
WEST VALLEY CITY — In their efforts to advocate for the Latino and immigrant communities, Brianna Puga and others at Comunidades Unidas have reached a stark conclusion.
"We've come to the realization that no one is going to pull us out of our problems. Politicians aren't doing it. People in positions of power aren't doing it," Puga said.
Rather, their future is in their hands and, accordingly, Comunidades Unidas is spearheading an initiative to identify the key issues facing Latinos, immigrants — including the undocumented population — and the overlapping groups' allies. They want to make sure their voices are heard. "It's up to the community to organize around the issues," said Puga, immigration rights community organizer for the nonprofit Latino and immigrant advocacy group.
The effort is called the Salt Lake County Immigrant People's Agenda Campaign and participants, from an array of locales, have been meeting for nearly two years to pinpoint the most pressing issues they face. They've broadly defined some of the concerns, including gentrification; jail holds on undocumented immigrants; the rights and dignity of undocumented workers; and the need for a west-side high school. Next, they aim to finalize a more polished list they can present to candidates, movers and shakers ahead of elections in November.
Beyond that, Puga hopes to find and develop leaders in the community who can help with the organizing and advocacy efforts — moms, dads, workers, most anyone. The number of Latinos in Utah grows, but the segment isn't always represented among the ranks of elected officials at a level commensurate with their share of the population.
"It's going to be up to us," Puga said.
A cross-section involved in the effort spoke with KSL.com recently ahead of one of their brainstorming meetings at Comunidades Unidas' West Valley City offices. On hand were Puga; University of Utah student Cinthia Velasco; Estefania Delucas, active in Comunidades Unidas for three years; and Erik Vargas, a small-business owner from Bountiful. Also taking part were Izzy Cambridge, an ally to the cause who's of Native American heritage, and Cris Mora Rubio, who graduated from Westminster University with a focus in public health.
As Delucas sees it, a key element of the effort is inspiring the broader community to get involved and stay involved, even when they feel beaten down. "You have to get back up. You don't stay on the ground," she said.
It's also about being counted. If the Comunidades Unidas organizers felt they had a voice, Delucas said, "We wouldn't be here."
Cambridge thinks the important thing is focusing, "pointing this energy" in the right direction.
Vargas says an important element of the initiative is "informing people who don't know what's going on." More and more participants, he said, have been attending the brainstorming meetings. "We're doing what we can with what we have," he said.
As for the issues identified thus far, apparent holds in the Salt Lake County Jail of undocumented immigrants for federal immigration officials is a big one. Salt Lake County Jail officials, Puga said, used to partner with U.S. immigration officials under the parameters of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAAP, an initiative that targets undocumented immigrants. Per SCAAP, local jails can get federal funding to offset the cost of holding undocumented immigrants, ostensibly encouraging longer holds, thus giving federal officials more time to detain and deport immigrants here illegally.
Local law enforcement officials no longer officially partner with the program, but Puga worries that there's still a measure of cooperation between local officials and their federal counterparts concerning undocumented inmates, raising the specter of deportation.
"I think the overall idea of it is inhumane," she charged, particularly since it frequently involves those suspected of relatively minor violations, like running a red light or other moving violations.
Mora Rubio maintains that there are also privacy considerations given what he believes to be the passing of information about undocumented inmates by local jailers to federal officials. "We want to end it," he said.
Creation of a new high school serving the west side is another big cause. Many west-side students attend East, West or Highland high schools further east, but that can entail one-way trips for some of more than 90 minutes, Puga said.
The travel time hinders the ability to take part in extracurricular activities, she said. At Highland High, at least, non-Hispanic whites account for a majority of students, according to Utah Board of Education data, and she worries about students of color facing discrimination "because they're seen as less than the other students."
Gentrification is another concern in some areas — rising rents that force some lower-income tenants to move — though the Comunidades Unidas contingent offered fewer details on the issue. Similarly, another priority is creating protections for undocumented workers and day laborers, though, again, the organizers offered fewer particulars.
Once they have their plan fine tuned and as election season intensifies, the Comunidades Unidas group members say they'd likely take their message to those with countywide or statewide power — Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, Gov. Spencer Cox, Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.
"It's going to be hard, but it's not impossible," Vargas said.
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