You would think that a community made up of Hispanics, farmworkers, and immigrants would be the last place a vocally anti-immigrant politician with presidential aspirations would come, let alone be invited. Sadly, that wasn’t the case when one of the nation’s most radical governors, Ron DeSantis, was received with open arms by David Armansco (Alliant), Shelly and Steve Barnard (Mission Produce), Pan and Bardin Bengard (Bengard Ranch), Mindy and Trey Busch (Alliant), Steve Church (Church Brothers), Sandy and John D’Arrigo (D’Arrigo Brothers), Susan and David Gill (Rio Farms and Gill’s Onions), and Linda and Bruce Taylor (Taylor Farms). All but Alliant are produce companies, that rely heavily on Hispanic immigrant workers.
Salinas is popularly known as the “Salad Bowl of America,” but it is important to emphasize that the great majority working in the agricultural industry are immigrants. It is no hidden fact that our economy is primarily driven by the undocumented majority of our Hispanic population.
On Thursday, September 28th, 2023, the Florida Governor made a quick visit to Salinas to raise funds for his 2024 presidential campaign. I first found out about this event through a Salinas meme page on Instagram. When I saw the flier, I didn’t believe it at first because, in my mind, it never really came to me that a governor from across the country would come to a small town in Monterey County.
As I noticed that more and more organizations started posting the flier, I got scared because what I’d heard in the past about DeSantis wasn’t really pleasant. This was especially shocking when I knew that, in some way, my family and I, like many others in our community, would be affected as we are part of that group that DeSantis so surely despises.
Based on the past bills that he has signed into law in Florida, DeSantis’ political stance is well known – he is anti-gay, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigrant, and anti-woke.
Earlier this year in Florida, undocumented immigrants and families were forced to move out after DeSantis signed the E-Verify bill into law in May of this year. E-Verify is a web service that allows businesses and employers to confirm the legal eligibility of any person who wants to work in the United States. Upon the placement of this service, it made it harder for thousands of undocumented immigrants in Florida to find employment and live within the state.
Besides being against immigrants, he’s made no secret of his feelings for the LGBTQ+ community through his “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which obviously also targets Hispanics with his inhumane oppression.
When news got out that he would be visiting Salinas, it was highly controversial between those who supported him and those who were against it. Protests were planned through social media posts. The event was open to anyone who wanted to attend for just $3300 per person and $5000 per couple; however, the address was not provided in the flier itself, rather, it was given after payment was made.
Just two days before his arrival, the Salinas City Council held a meeting to vote on denouncing DeSantis’ visit. The majority of the members were against his visit but others supported it. Lots of community members went out to the downtown meeting and spoke out their feelings and what they felt about the governor’s threatening visit.
Carla Gonzalez, District 1 Salinas councilwoman, history, ethnic, and Chicano studies teacher, saw good in the community and it meant a lot to her to see people unite and express themselves together regardless of their citizen status in the country.
“I feel very proud of my community because it has once again reminded me that in moments of fear and desperation – we are not alone,” Carla Gonzalez said. “We are not alone because we are neighbors, friends, cousins, and families who just want to make sure that ALL families in Salinas are safe.” She wasn’t angry about his visit at that point, rather, she was happy and amazed to see a diverse group of people use their voices to speak about their homes and what they felt, with no importance of their linguistic heritage.
The meeting resulted in passing a resolution of 6-0, with only one person abstaining. The resolution was just symbolic, and it wouldn’t stop the event from happening, but it was a powerful message.
During the week of his visit, peaceful community rallies were organized by Salinas members on September 24th and September 27th of 2023. Together they met at the Salinas Amtrack Station, went down Main Street, stopped at Taylor Farms, continued down Alisal Street, and ended at the corner by Foods Co. Upon the day of his arrival, he was also met with another protest event just outside of Corral de Tierra Country Club, the location of which his morning brunch was held. No conflicts arose from the event, but the people were able to make their message by holding up numerous signs and posters of objection to his drop-in. It was beautiful to see people stand up for something they see as wrong. Even those who weren’t out there protesting passed by in their cars honking in support of those who were.
When the situation is put into perspective, the people hosting the event have made it clear that they were helping fundraise money for a man they potentially hope to win the future presidency. It’s satirical (and sad) that they haven’t yet realized that if DeSantis were to win, he would apply the same policies from Florida to the entire country, especially E-Verify. It’s contradictory because if such policies were to be placed nationally, it’d mean that they are really not benefitting from their sponsoring whatsoever because the large amounts of money they make come from their employees who work for them that are primarily IMMIGRANT.
It’s very ironic to see how our community’s employers, who own multi-billion dollar agriculture companies, decided to host an event for a radical person such as DeSantis knowing that the money they make clearly comes from the hard work, sweat, and tears of farmworker immigrants. While his visit was short, it was very upsetting to see the disrespect that the employers were showing toward the farmworkers who support them.
Now, when it comes to politics, I believe every person should have the right to support whoever they’d like, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, it’s not right when the event is a slap in the face to those who come to be victims of an oppressive set of beliefs. The sponsors’ support sends a strong message to the employees, many of whom our parents work for. It’s shameful to see that because it’s as if the companies are spitting in the face of their employees and the community as a whole, by inviting someone who so surely detests anyone who’s not of his own race or shares the same interests as him. Thankfully, many people voiced their displeasure in support of the people, the workers, who have made the produce industry thrive. If there’s a silver lining, it might be that DeSantis is not a frontrunner for president and that he will follow in the footsteps of his role model, lose the election, and vanish into obscurity.
