The race for Santa Barbara’s next mayor is the last thing on Lorena Penaloza’s mind.
Penaloza, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, was born and raised in Santa Barbara. She is the mother of four, and runs a store on the Eastside called Poco De Todo.
She votes in each election, but this year Penaloza couldn’t name a single candidate running for mayor.
The big issue for Penaloza come election night isn’t about who will get to manage the city’s budget, or crackdown on electric bikes. It’s whether she’ll have to hear about another friend or family member being taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“If we don’t have ICE control, we’re going to lose a lot of our migrant workers,” Penaloza said.
As Santa Barbara moves closer to naming its next mayor on Tuesday, ICE activity continues to surge and impact many Latino communities across the Central Coast.
All of the candidates for mayor have said ICE does not belong in Santa Barbara.
“I think anyone who steps into a bit of power should tackle the immigration issues first,” Penaloza said.
ICE vehicles were seen driving on San Andres Street and other areas of Santa Barbara in recent days.
“It shuts the neighborhood down,” said Ricky Guajardo, an employee at La Bella Rosa Bakery. “When there are sights of ICE, this street shuts down.”
He said rapid response volunteers, or “ICE patrol” as Guajardo called them, have come around at least once every three months to notify the bakery that federal agents are around.
“Some of our employees feel so affected by it that they hide,” Guajardo said. “Some don’t even go into work.”
A few months ago, ICE agents raided a laundry mat on San Andres Street, Guajardo said. On a separate day, an agent had come in to buy bread from the bakery. He said the manager, who has legal status, was afraid to be a cashier for the agent.
The uptick in federal immigration enforcement over the last few weeks alone has raised concern among businesses and Latino communities in the Central Coast.
According to data from 805 UndocuFund, as of late October over 200 people have been detained or remain unaccounted for since Oct. 5.
“The damage is already done,” Guajardo said. “It’s always on the front of their mind.”
Penaloza noticed Milpas Street had become a ghost town once ICE activity started ramping up in the city.
Her business hasn’t been doing well as a result, making it harder to keep up with affording housing and having her shop stay afloat.
“We work our asses off, like every single day,” Penaloza said.
One of Penaloza’s biggest concerns aside from immigration is paying for housing and affording to live in the city.
Penaloza supports the rent stabilization ordinance in Santa Barbara, a prominent talking point in the mayoral campaign.
The ordinance, which goes into effect on Jan.1, caps rent at 60% of CPI.
“If rent doesn’t calm down, people are just going to start moving out of here,” Penaloza said.
Kelcy Contreras, who helps her dad run a boot and work wear store named Santa Barbara Boots & Wear on 320 N. Milpas St., said housing and affordability is also a big concern for her family.
“It’s the rent,” Contreras said. “No one can really afford to live by themselves now.”
Contreras said she used to sleep in the living room of her mom’s apartment when they rented out a room to two other people.
“It took me back to when I was a kid, and there were a lot of people living around me,” Contreras said.
Penaloza also rents out two rooms in her Santa Barbara house to help pay her monthly bill of $9,600. It’s a common trend among renters to split rent between multiple families, she said.
She added that ICE and housing and affordability go “hand-in-hand” for Latino communities.
“There’s people who need to be more afraid of immigration,” Penaloza said. “And there’s people who need to be more afraid of rent.”
As election day approaches, Penaloza said she wants to think her vote matters, but she has doubts.
“I want to think that it matters, but I really don’t think so,” Penaloza said. “I think there’s way too many people in our generation nowadays that just go on Snapchat, and say ‘Go vote,’ instead of actually going to vote.”
