Belonging

80% (65/80) of the respondents reported the importance of family and community support to provide a sense of economic security. This support is not only monetary, it can also include sharing information and mediation. Local community organizations are also crucial because they help gain access to job information, to food, to affordable housing, and while advocating for larger social change.

Lorena, a 43 y.o., first generation undocumented woman who lives in Santa Cruz talks about economic security. She first came to Santa Cruz on her own, with the help of her brother who was already living here. Now she is in a place where she was able to give her nephew a sense of safety and comfort by providing him with housing.

I: Can you  remember at some point that  your  family  needed assistance from you?

L: Yes, as I say we always have, my husband and I have  always worked up to 12 hours to be able to bring out the expenses of the rent and food- the basics. Because it has  always touched us. My friend or my comadre or in this case, my  nephew had nowhere to go. And because we let them have some time to find somewhere to go. Or know where they were going to stay,  they were going to get some place else or something like that.

Non-Belonging

Not having legal identification and the related barriers to obtaining it, are described as the main cause of exclusion, as they preclude community members from having many rights, and access to positions that could grant them economic security. Illegal status is exclusionary not only because it prevents access to opportunities, but also because it exacerbates the fear of repercussions from state institutions and other societal actors. Economic insecurity has been discussed by 86% (70/81) interviewees as connected to feeling excluded from the community.

William, a 22 year-old, 1.5 generation undocumented immigrant who lives in Santa Cruz county. He works in the HVAC industry and explains how documentation status can lead to labor exploitation.

I: How about challenges living in Santa Cruz County?

W: Mmm… Yeah just, I don’t know, lotta times, I mean, go work with my dad. Just, I don’t know, getting like, treated differently on jobs- well, […]. Just getting treated differently and stuff or in not getting like[…] the money from like a job site or something, or not all the money from a job site just cuz he was Mexican and people wouldn’t want to pay him and at that point you couldn’t really do anything about it cuz you’re working under a fake name. Like, so, and but the contractors wouldn’t know, they wouldn’t know it’s a fake name but they’d know you were like…Mexican but you couldn’t really call the cops on them cuz we’d be the ones getting in trouble.