The City of Arvin hosted a resource fair and town hall meeting on Thursday night to connect the community with immigration attorneys and educate them about their rights.
- Community members gather for the 'Know Your Rights' town hall in Arvin.
- Local leaders and legal experts address concerns and provide resources.
- The event aims to empower residents with knowledge and tools to protect their rights.
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Several community members gathered at Faro Church Thursday evening to learn about their constitutional rights. In addition to the "Know Your Rights" presentation, community members were able to learn about the resources available to them.
Several Arvin residents lined up at the Faro Church patio on Thursday for the Community Resource Fair held before the "Know Your Rights" town hall.
According to Arvin's Mayor Olivia Calderon, the town hall comes after the community expressed their fear of leaving their homes, following Border Patrol's presence in the county last week.
"The topic of immigration terrorizes many people in the community because a lot of them are here illegally," said resident Lorena Pineda.
"There are a lot of people that I know—family members—that are afraid that Border Patrol will return, that they won't be able to go to work," said resident Marcela Ramirez. "In fact, I have family members who had to sleep at work because they were afraid of being arrested and deported."
To alleviate some of their concern and show their support to the community, the city partnered with non-profits like Clinica Sierra Vista, the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and Kern Family Health Care who provided information on each of their respective organizations.
Community members were also able to obtain food provided by CAPK.
Following the community resource fair, residents gathered inside the church's sanctuary to meet with local attorneys and experts in immigration law and civil rights.
According to Calderon, this is just one of the ways she intends to support the community during this time when many are afraid of the unknown.
"We heard from our community and what we decided to do is in our community is pull together resources. That we could connect these town halls with immediate assistance now so that it's tangible," said Calderon.
According to Calderon, the City of Arvin will continue to host town hall meetings like this one throughout the year to inform the community on a variety of topics.
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