Dozens of local businesses from Goleta to Carpinteria joined a nationwide strike organized after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this month.
Some chose to close completely, in line with the “no school, no work, no shopping” urging from national protest organizers; others instead decided to donate a percentage of sales to local immigrant advocacy groups such as 805UndocuFund.
There were large school walkouts to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions and deportations of community members, and scattered protests across the community.
Hundreds also gathered at Leadbetter Beach for a “line in the sand” beach day, organized by advocacy group SBResiste.
Anti-ICE signs in hand, community members spent their morning and afternoon standing on the median and along Shoreline Drive sidewalks as motorists drove by and honked their horns in support.
“It’s not a hard decision to stand on the right side of things,” Julia Mayer, co-owner of Dune Coffee, told Noozhawk over the phone on Friday morning.
Of Dune Coffee’s four shops, two in Goleta closed Friday in honor of a nationwide strike.
Mayer — a Carpinteria City Council member who motioned for a moment of silence at Monday night’s meeting in remembrance of Good and Pretti — told Noozhawk she left it up to Dune’s employees to decide whether they wanted to join the national strike, recognizing it isn’t easy for everyone to go without a paycheck.
Her decision to join the national strike was fueled, in part, by seeing a federal agent pepper-spray a woman near an elementary school on Santa Barbara’s Eastside on Wednesday during an ICE operation.
She said she also fiercely remembers last July, when dozens of federal agents raided a state-legal cannabis farm in the Carpinteria Valley and clashed with protesters.
“I believe in our community to stand up for what is right. What is happening in Minnesota is headed to California. I believe that,” Mayer said, referencing the Trump administration’s ramped-up immigration enforcement in Minnesota. “It’s so horrifying, and it has to stay horrifying. We can’t become numb to it.”
Others who spoke to Noozhawk on Friday said they supported the national strike and showed up for their community because of ICE actions both locally and across the country.
Jackie Luna, who protested at Leadbetter Beach on Friday, said that what has been happening is “inhumane.”
“Every day somebody is dying, somebody is getting taken into custody,” she said. “These are our community members. These are our teachers, our kids, our neighbors. Everything needs to stop. If you’re not here, what are you doing?”
Millie Simon, who also showed up at Leadbetter Beach, said her parents have been “stuck at home every single day.”
“Just seeing everyone out here in our community is really touching,” Simon said. “It’s hard, living every day, being scared.”
A few businesses, including El Sitio, Dart Coffee Co. and Get Hooked Seafood, gave out food to Leadbetter protesters.
Get Hooked Seafood owner Victoria Voss said she joined her local Rapid Response Network last April to help patrol the area in the mornings looking for ICE.
“They’re taking two, three people a week out of Santa Barbara,” she said. “There’s not enough visibility around that.”
Businesses that chose to donate rather than close, such as Heritage Goods & Supply, Satellite SB, Lucky Llama Coffee Shop and The Blue Door, among others, said they needed to support their staff and vendors by staying open, but they would donate a portion of their proceeds to support the strike.
Jen Lemberger, a co-owner of Chaucer’s Books in Santa Barbara, said the Chaucer’s team decided Thursday morning that the best way they could make a difference is by donating 20% of sales to 805UndocuFund and offering a “third space” for “quiet, book recs, venting, whatever it may be.”
“This country was built by immigrants,” Lemberger said in a text to Noozhawk. “Santa Barbara wouldn’t exist or function without immigrants. The incident on the Eastside was only a few blocks from where we lived just last year. Our neighbors, friends, families, coworkers and community members are being targeted.”
Gill Craddock, co-owner of Dang Burger in Carpinteria, a burger restaurant that operates out of Sunburst Wine Bar, said many of their employees wanted to work, so his team chose to donate a portion of their sales to 805UndocuFund and “let the organizations that are doing the direct work carry the torch for us.”
Sunburst Wine Bar also plans to donate a portion of the proceeds back to the Carpinteria Children’s Project, wine bar representatives said on social media.
Others that chose to close completely, such as Los Arroyos, Los Agaves, the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, Yona Redz and Rudy’s Mexican, said on social media they wanted to support their community by closing.
“Rudy’s has always been rooted in care and community,” Rudy’s spokespeople said on social media. “To us, hospitality means more than serving food. It’s about how we take care of one another, and how we show up with respect and humanity.”
MCASB said on social media the decision to close completely “reflects our deep commitment to the dignity, care and protection of all who make up the fabric of Santa Barbara, especially our most vulnerable neighbors.”