Just about everyone agrees that something must be done about the growing problem of gang violence in Santa Cruz. Not everyone, however, is happy about the SCPD collaborating with Immigration Customs and Enforcement.
Just about everyone agrees that something must be done about the growing problem of gang violence in Santa Cruz. Not everyone, however, is happy about the SCPD collaborating with Immigration Customs and Enforcement.
O.T Quintero, Assistant Director of “Barrios Unidos,” which works with troubled youth, says it’s important to realize that gang violence and immigration are very different issues, and as such, cannot be handled with the same strategies. This gives already troubled youngsters, as well as others in the Latino community, the impression that the only solution to the problem is deporting all Latinos. He prefers to see greater community involvement in tackling gang violence, a position echoed by City Councilmember Tony Madrigal.
Police Spokesman Zach Friend attempted to allay Quintero’s fears. He says that ICE’s gang unit “is exclusively here to deal with the gang element … to stop these people from killing our children.” But this does not answer Quintero’s main fear, that deportation become a major tool in the arsenal of a an increasingly desperate police force. Read more at Fox 35.
