The 805UndocuFund announces the continuation of the 805 Marker Project – Our Community Disappeared, a series of public art installations across Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties that bear witness to the fact that “Our neighbors are being taken, and our communities are being torn apart.”
“The 805 Marker Project was born from the urgency and grief felt by 805UndocuFund volunteers and community members who refused to allow ICE kidnappings to happen in silence,” organizers said.
Each marker is placed at the exact location where a community member was taken — transforming ordinary streets, sidewalks, and public spaces into sites of memory, truth, and collective accountability.
What began as a single 3D sculptural concept has evolved through community creativity and necessity. Markers have taken many forms — chalk monarch butterflies, eucalyptus branches adorned with butterflies, and hand-made installations — each representing a life disrupted and a family forever changed, 805UndocuFund said.
Across every version, one symbol remains constant: the monarch butterfly, an emblem of migration, resilience and survival.
The initial marker design and prototype were created through volunteer collaboration, including artist Vera Long of Ojai One ArtSpoken, a 501(c)(3) arts and justice organization.
The project has since been shaped by the leadership and creativity of numerous 805UndocuFund volunteers, including Leslie Walsh, alongside youth and community partners Youth Right to RISE!, MARIPOSA, and Swapmeet Justice, groups rooted in supporting immigrant communities in Ventura County.
“Each marker is a promise that we will not forget, and that we will keep showing up for one another. Our solidarity is our defense, and our memory is our resistance,” said Primitiva Hernández, executive sirector, 805UndocuFund.
“The 805 Marker Project is more than art—it is a collective refusal to normalize state violence, a community-led archive of truth, and a form of healing for those left behind,” organizers said. “At a time when fear is being used as a weapon, these markers reclaim public space as places of dignity, mourning and resistance.
“We call on community members to reclaim public space, make disappearance visible, and refuse silence. Create a marker. Host an installation. Document what you witness. Stand with families before, during, and after harm occurs.
“Protecting immigrant communities is not symbolic, it is a shared responsibility.”
To get involved, learn how to create a marker, or support migrant-led rapid response and community defense efforts, follow @805UndocuFund on social media or connect with 805 volunteers directly.
805UndocuFund is a 501(c)(3) that provides disaster relief and advocacy for undocumented residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.