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from Deborah BrennanCalMatters
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On a recent Friday night, organizers of a community festival in San Marcos were busy planning a neighborhood parade and preparing trays of tamales for guests.
At the same time, they were preparing guards to monitor ICE activity in the predominantly Hispanic, low-income area of northern San Diego County.
“We depend on the community,” said San Marcos Councilwoman Maria Nunez, who represents San Marcos Ward 1, where 55 percent of the voting-age population is Hispanic. “People are on high alert. If they see something, hear something, if there’s ICE in the area, they’re going to let us know.”
Popular University, a civic organization in north San Diego County, co-sponsored the event, called Posada Comunitaria, along with the local Abbey Church of the Restoration. This is the third time it has been celebrated in San Marcos, but this year’s festivities were marked against the backdrop of concerns over increased immigration crackdowns under the Trump administration.
The procession or posada traditionally recreates the pilgrimage of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem before the birth of Christ. In San Marcos, residents and organizers marched through the neighborhood, where affordable housing complexes house many immigrant families.
The event puts the Advent story in a modern context, said Alex Aguas, a priest at Restoration Abbey who helps asylum seekers.
“The Inn practice really invites people to reflect on ‘what does it mean to be rejected?'” he said. “Or ‘what does it mean to stay away and seek refuge right now?’ We also have an opportunity to celebrate.”
As guests arrived and sipped cups of coffee and apple cider, security volunteers in hot pink vests gathered to discuss how to manage traffic control and keep an eye out for immigration agents.
“All of our teams, all of our pink vests, went through immigration response training,” said Arcela Nunes, co-director of the Popular University and Maria Nunes’ sister. “We have staff monitoring all points in this neighborhood.”
San Marcos, a city of 94,000 in northern San Diego County, appears to have only a few immigration arrests in the San Diego area. However, government figures show that numbers have increased this year, and organizers say they have seen increased migration activity recently.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested at least 38 people in San Marcos since September 2023, 20 of which occurred between June and October of this year, according to federal data provided by ICE in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request processed by the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by CalMatters. CalMatters reached out to ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to confirm the numbers, but did not hear back.
Increased law enforcement and a change in policy allowing operations in areas such as churches and schools that were previously considered sanctuaries have had a chilling effect on some community activities. Arcela Núñez said her organization discussed canceling the event this year because of those concerns. They decided to move forward, but with caution.
Organizers were especially alert for possible reports of ICE activity at the San Marcos Home Depot, less than a mile away, where other immigration raids have taken place this year. Home Depot stores, where immigrant day laborers gather to look for work, have been raided by authorities in Pomona , Los Angeles Mr Sacramento this year.
In October, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol arrested 22 people with criminal records at Home Depot locations in San Marcos and Encinitas, Department of Homeland Security spokesman Jason Givens said.
“If something happens, look for experienced security personnel,” Flower Alvarez-Lopez, co-director of the Popular University, told about two dozen volunteers gathered in a circle. “We will be able to help them.”
Volunteers handed out candles to the participants, who lined up in a procession through the yard of an adjacent block. Musicians strummed their guitars while hundreds of singers serenaded residents with traditional tunes like “Silent Night” and “Litany to Request Posada.”
Their next stop was El Palenque Taco Shop, just around the corner on San Marcos Boulevard. Organizers used flashlights to direct participants and signal cars in the parking lot to make way before leading the group a few houses down to the La Michoacana ice cream shop.
Participants made one more stop at an apartment complex before returning to the church, where families lined up for plates piled high with rice and beans, tamales, slices of pizza and conchas, a sweet Mexican bread.
The event in San Marcos went off without incident, but it illustrates the tensions community leaders face when trying to plan cultural celebrations while maintaining vigilance for possible immigration operations.
Ines Delgado, an immigration rights advocate at the North County LGBTQ Resource Center in neighboring Oceanside, volunteered at the inn after hosting a celebration for International Migrant Day on Thursday night. On Friday morning, he said some customers showed up for a food drive at the center, but he admitted they were too nervous to attend the festivities the night before.
“Many said they were afraid to come out,” he said. “Maybe it’s because of the focus on immigration, but also because of the night out.”
At the offices of Popular University in San Marcos, a sign on the door reads “Note: Private Property and Establishment,” warning immigration agents or other law enforcement officials that a court order is required to enter non-public areas.
Inside, pink signs decorated with flowers remind customers of their right to remain silent in the event of arrest and to ask officers if they are under arrest.
“Many of our community partners are installing signs like this,” Arcela Nunez said. “So if ICE comes, we don’t want them coming in and we want people to feel safe.”
Behind their office, the band closed out the night with a pair of star-shaped industrial piñatas. Dozens of children struggled to break them and then collect the candies after they burst.
Although the organization and the church host a posada and other community festivals each year, this year’s neighborhood pilgrimage particularly highlighted the plight of “strangers seeking welcome,” Aguas said.
“Depending on the changing political climate, this work takes on different meaning and resonance.”
Reporter Wendy Fry contributed to this story.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under license Creative Commons Attribution/Attribution-Noncommercial.