The second Trump administration is beginning. The fear is already here.

On Monday, Jan. 6, Congress certified Donald Trump’s electoral victory as president. The next day, federal immigration officers conducted raids in Kern County, detaining people at spots popular among farmworkers and day laborers, according to news reports.

Rumors of similar raids in Monterey County have circulated since then, but so far they are just that, rumors. Still, the fear is palpable. Immigration lawyers say the phones are ringing relentlessly, and they hear anecdotal reports – a citizen who doesn’t want her partner to leave the house, families afraid of attending a know-your-rights event.

To push back, there is a local and statewide effort already underway. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors convened an ad hoc committee, and has so far printed 20,000 red cards (and distributed 13,000) with know-your-rights information if confronted by an immigration official, as staff writer Celia Jiménez has reported. (These constitutional rights will sound familiar to citizens: “You do not have to open the door if an immigration agent is knocking on the door, unless they show a valid warrant.” “You have the right to remain silent.”)

On Jan. 14, the board followed up with a $25,000 allocation for public service announcements, and a welcoming resolution. “It is important to make clear that we are one community in Monterey County and that all of our residents, regardless of immigration status, contribute to the social and economic fabric of this county,” it reads.

Supervisor Chris Lopez said, “There are two things that push people faster and further than anything else: fear and hope. Now, many people who came here with hope are living with fear.”

Sowing fear and chaos is, undoubtedly, part of Trump’s point. And preparedness can go only so far in redressing that fear.

Salinas attorney Chris Cain, who is participating in the county’s ad hoc committee, notes that not every immigrant has a path forward – there are opportunities to seek or renew particular types of visas, but every situation is unique. “The worst part is when I get the call, ‘I’ve been here for 19 years, I pay taxes.’ We ask, ‘do you have a child in the military, are you a victim of domestic violence… ’ We go through the list of qualifiers, but that’s our list. Sometimes it’s, ‘I’m sorry.’”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta visited Salinas on Jan. 10, convening with local leaders in the UFW Hall to share information about his office’s preparations, and to hear concerns from the community. He noted that he is prepared to sue the Trump administration (see story, p. 16) but that not every action related to immigration is something that can be fought, or won, in court.

“There are ways that the federal government, staying within its lane, will do things that will be painful for us to see, but will be lawful,” Bonta said.

And unlawful policies can upend lives while waiting for court decisions. Larry Oda of Monterey, the national president of the Japanese American Citizens League, knows this well. He worries less about Japanese immigrants now than Latin Americans and Middle Easterners, groups that Trump has targeted, but he sees clear echoes of the past.

“We should have learned a lot of things,” Oda says. “But memory is short. We haven’t learned.”

Bonta also shared his own immigration story. He was just a 2-month-old baby in the Philippines when his parents decided to leave – they worried about their home country’s antidemocratic path.

And they were right. Exactly one year after Bonta was born, martial law was declared.

“My mom opposed the dictator,” Bonta said. “You can’t just put your chin on your elbow and look out the window and hope.”

Looking out the window is, of course, much easier. But for those of us who enjoy protections, such as citizenship, we must act, and demonstrate we’ve learned from the past.

That’s what Bonta’s mother did, participating in what eventually became known as the People Power Revolution, leading to the overthrow in 1986 of dictator Ferdinand Marcos after 20 years, and restoring democracy to the Philippines. “The most powerful power there is is people power,” Bonta said.

People power elected Trump as president. Likewise, people power can resist his worst tendencies and protect vulnerable people – but only if we use it.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com.