City clears farmworker encampment
CALEXICO —Local police on Wednesday removed the field workers who were maintaining a camp on Calle Primera and Avenida Andrade.
A group of Calexico Police officers, led by the Chief of Police Gonzalo Gerardo, along with Fire Department personnel, participated in the cleanup.
The farmworkers had set up the camp in January in demand affordable housing.
Hugo Castro, organizer of the camp, shared two videos showing the arrival of police and the removal the campers’ property. City Council members Gloria Romo and Raul Ureña tried to intervene on the farmworkers’ behalf.
Romo cited the Roosevelt Reservation, the 1907 proclamation by President Theodore Roosevelt declaring the 60-foot-wide strip of land on the U.S. side of the border belongs to the U.S. government. She argued that it wasn’t clear whether local authorities were operating within their jurisdiction in removing the encampment.
According to the councilwoman, the City Manager Miguel Figueroa consulted the members of the council about the eviction, and was given approval by Mayor Rosie Arreola Fernández, Councilman Camilo García and Mayor Pro Tem Javier Moreno to remove the camp.
Romo added that the authorities simply posted notice in the place announcing a clean-up operation, but not an eviction.
She added that the operation was apparently requested by the Border Patrol. Figueroa did not respond to an email request for comment.
According to those present, Figueroa requested to carry out a correct delimitation of the area, since the authorities did not know if the camp is located within the properties that would have been sold to the federal government.
A couple of weeks ago, the Biden administration ordered a halt to the land sale, at least momentarily.
“The council must make a decision on this, and through the state, the county and the federal government do something,” Romo said.
Romo asked for a stay on the eviction until the place was properly measured.
According to activist Hugo Castro, the eviction, which he considered morally wrong, was carried out without prior notification from the authorities.
In addition, he said, authorities removed a trailer without any notification.
Castro, who was accompanied by Ureña, called the eviction a political decision.
In the videos, an officer appears to threaten a young woman with arrest for interfering with the eviction.
According supporters of the camp, 14 people resided there.
Chief Gerardo said the eviction was carried out after consultation with the city’s lawyers following a series of complaints for residents.
The eviction began at 8 a.m., but officers were unable to remove the properties of the campers until 40 minutes later due to a verbal dispute between authorities and activists.
Gerardo indicated that the Spread the Love Charity organization, as well as County Mental Health staff, came to the site to offer shelter to the campers.
He added that during an inspection carried out on Tuesday, only four people were found at the site.
Gerardo said that of the people who were in the camp, only one was a farmworker. In addition, he explained that two of the campers required help to renew their permanent resident cards, with which they will be assisted by lawyers from the non-profit organization.
According to Gerardo, the campers were in danger as the Imperial Irrigation District plans to change the wiring on First Street.
One of the campers agreed to be transferred to a shelter.
The police chief pointed out that any incident registered within the camp represented a legal responsibility for the local government.
About the trailer that was removed, Gerardo said the vehicle had expired license plates since 1992.
The police chief indicated that the place has already been cleaned, and the Border Patrol has repositioned the mobile fences in the middle of the street.