Hxstory

The Payómkawichum (Luiseño) people are the original stewards of the land now known as North County San Diego. Their continued presence, displacement, and resistance shape the foundation for all organizing in Oceanside and Vista.

1942: The Bracero Program is launched as a bilateral agreement between the United States and Mexico, bringing Mexican laborers to work temporarily in U.S. agriculture. The program created exploitative conditions that shaped future migration patterns.

1944: Title 42 is enacted as part of the Public Health Service Act to prevent spread of communicable diseases at U.S. borders; not used for immigration enforcement until decades later.

1954: Operation Wetback is initiated by the U.S. government to remove undocumented Mexican immigrants through military-style raids and mass deportations. It created fear and long-term harm across Mexican and Chicano communities.

1969: MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán) is founded by Chicano students across the Southwest as a movement to reclaim culture, history, and education through student organizing and political resistance.

1975: Camp Pendleton is used to process thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao refugees after the U.S. war in Southeast Asia, marking a shift in refugee intake policy tied to military conflict.

1980s: San Diego becomes a federal testing ground for new immigration enforcement tactics, including surveillance tech, inland checkpoints, and early collaborations between local police and Border Patrol. This set the stage for Operation Gatekeeper and interior enforcement throughout North County.

1981: Unión del Barrio is formed in San Diego, rooted in Barrio Logan and led by local community activists committed to Chicanx self-determination and anti-colonial resistance.

1986: IRCA (Immigration Reform and Control Act) is passed, offering legal status to certain undocumented immigrants while also introducing employer sanctions and increased border enforcement. It was a mixed policy with both relief and repression.

1994: Proposition 187 passes in California, aiming to deny undocumented immigrants access to public education, health care, and social services. Though later overturned, it marked a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the state.

1994: Operation Gatekeeper begins in San Diego, expanding border militarization and forcing migrants to take more dangerous crossing routes. This federal strategy contributed to thousands of migrant deaths in the following decades.

1994: Asociación de Raza Educators (ARE) is founded to support racial justice in education and resist criminalization of students in San Diego schools, especially Chicano, Indigenous, and Black youth.

1996: Proposition 209 is enacted in California, banning affirmative action in public institutions. It had lasting impacts on access to higher education and jobs for Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities.

1996: Proposition 227 passes, restricting bilingual education in California and promoting English-only instruction. It deeply impacted generations of students from immigrant backgrounds.

1996: The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) expands deportation powers and creates new immigration penalties, setting the foundation for mass removals in the 2000s.

1997: Gang Injunctions expand across California cities including Oceanside, allowing police to restrict the movement and association of young people in targeted neighborhoods, especially Black and Latino youth.

2001: The federal DREAM Act is first introduced to create a path to citizenship for undocumented youth. Though never passed, it shaped a generation of undocumented student organizing.

2001: AB 540 becomes law in California, allowing certain undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. It was a key win for the immigrant youth movement.

2002: The No Child Left Behind Act is signed into law, ushering in a new era of high-stakes testing and accountability in schools. It led to widespread funding disparities and discipline disparities for students of color.

2006: HR 4437, a federal anti-immigrant bill, proposes criminalizing undocumented status and anyone who assists immigrants. Massive immigrant-led protests across the country defeat the bill and mark a historic moment in resistance.

2007: Wildfires in San Diego County displace thousands, with undocumented families facing barriers to aid and fear of Border Patrol presence at shelters. The fires expose how climate disasters intersect with immigration enforcement, especially in North County.

2008: The Secure Communities program links local jail bookings to ICE, allowing immigration enforcement to begin after minor arrests. This expands the deportation pipeline across San Diego County and deepens police and ICE collaboration.

2008: Alianza Comunitaria forms in North County as one of the first ICE rapid response networks. Rooted in relationships with HRCO and others, it set the foundation for alerts, family support, and defense tactics still used today.

2010: Proposition 21 is passed in California, allowing youth as young as 14 to be tried as adults in court. It disproportionately impacts Black and Brown youth and fuels mass incarceration.

2010: Arizona passes SB 1070, a law that sparked national outrage by requiring police to demand immigration papers based on suspicion. It became known widely as the “Show Me Your Papers” law.

2010: HRCO is formed by local college students in Oceanside as a community-based response to ICE raids, checkpoints, and racialized policing. What began as a small network for alerts and accompaniment quickly evolved into a collective grounded in dignity, presence, and political clarity.

2011: Opposed the Secure Communities program, a federal policy linking local jail fingerprints to ICE databases that expanded across California and targeted immigrants for deportation, often without serious criminal hxstories.

2011: Responded to rising ICE checkpoints and racial profiling by launching community alerts and watch efforts in Oceanside. That same year, HRCO organized a winter clothing drive for local jornalerxs (day laborers) facing homelessness, collecting jackets and sweaters at MiraCosta College and CSU San Marcos to meet urgent needs with dignity and care.

2012: DACA is announced as a national program to protect undocumented youth from deportation and to grant access to work permits. This came after years of youth-led organizing across the country.

2012: Stood in solidarity with Arizona organizers resisting SB 1070 and defended the dignity of DACA-eligible youth during attacks by anti-immigrant officials.

2013: Continued building trust with families through resource-sharing and presence, laying the groundwork for Know Your Rights sessions and future patrols.

2013: California passes the TRUST Act. This law limits how local law enforcement agencies respond to ICE hold requests and aims to reduce deportations triggered by minor arrests.

2014 to 2016: Hosted early Know Your Rights sessions and joined local and regional resistence against Secure Communities, teaching families their rights and building early legal defense infrastructure.

2015: Joined Oceanside families in stopping the attempted closure of Jefferson Middle School, resisting the transfer of a neighborhood public school to a selective charter model.

2015: California implements AB 60, a state law allowing undocumented residents to apply for a standard driver’s license without needing proof of legal status.

2016: The TRUTH Act builds on previous laws by requiring law enforcement to get written consent before ICE interviews people in jail and hold public forums on their collaboration. This policy helped expose ongoing ICE–police entanglements.

2017: Organized across Oceanside for district elections in City Council and school board in conjunction with community members and organizations, advocating for equitable maps and Latino representation while supporting Know Your Rights workshops in schools.

2017: California enacts SB 54, also known as the Sanctuary State Law. It restricts how police and sheriffs can assist immigration enforcement and expands legal protections for undocumented residents.

2018: Supported parents and educators responding to ICE visibility and racial discrimination in Oceanside schools and joined citywide organizing efforts around sanctuary policy and immigrant safety.

2018: The federal “Zero Tolerance” policy mandates family separations at the US–Mexico border. Thousands of children are taken from their parents and held in mass detention centers.

2019: Launched the Give Back Our Buses campaign to restore transportation access in the Crown Heights neighborhood, highlighting racial and class exclusion in city planning.

2020: Expanded HRCO’s mutual aid network during the COVID 19 pandemic, sharing food, rent support, and trusted resources rooted in dignity and care.

2020 to 2023: Title 42 is invoked during the COVID 19 pandemic. It blocks asylum seekers at the border by using public health as justification to expel migrants without legal hearings.

2021: Advocated against the proposed naming of an existing OUSD school as "La Hacienda" and supported a renaming process that honored the Payómkawichum and Luiseño peoples and the community’s cultural roots

2021 to 2023: Partnered with OUSD parents and educators to advocate for student safety and immigrant family inclusion in schools.

2024: Advocated for basic safety improvements and policy change at Pablo Tac Elementary following community concern over ICE visibility and police behavior on campus.

2025: Hosted the Community Self Defense Workshop, educating Oceanside residents about the hxstory of immigration enforcement and connecting past and present through community protection strategies.