Guest Column: Our community must stand together
By ERIKA HERSEY and BETHANY BARNARD For the Chinook Observer
Pacific County, our beloved home, is a vibrant community built on natural resources and tourism. Most of us have immigrant roots, except for the original indigenous residents, the Chinook Indian Nation. For decades, we’ve welcomed a diverse and growing immigrant and refugee community — Hispanics, Laotians, Cambodians, Vietnamese and more. But the harmony of our community is now under threat.
Immigrants and refugees are vital to Pacific County’s economic success. They power industries like shellfish farming, taking on challenging jobs such as oyster shucking, nighttime clam digging, and crabbing.
Immigrants and refugees are vital to Pacific County’s economic success. They power industries like shellfish farming, taking on challenging jobs such as oyster shucking, nighttime clam digging, and crabbing. Between 2016 and 2019, our community felt the devastating impact of over a hundred immigrant workers being arrested, detained, or deported. Families were torn apart, impacting long-time residents and hurting local businesses.
We must not return to those dark days — we are better than that.
Immigrants: Lifeblood of our community
Economic growth: Immigrants fill vital roles in agriculture, seafood processing, and hospitality. They create jobs, pay taxes, and stimulate our local economy through spending.
Social contribution: Immigrants enrich our community with diverse cultures, traditions, and perspectives. They participate in local organizations, volunteer, and highly value education, supporting their children’s success in local schools.
Mass deportation would devastate our families, communities and the Pacific County economy.
Danger of mass deportation
Labor shortages: Removing immigrants from critical sectors would create significant labor shortages, driving up labor costs and impacting business profitability. Economic decline: Mass deportation would decrease consumer spending, slow economic growth, and negatively impact local businesses.
Community disruption: Mass deportation would cause fear and uncertainty, breaking down community ties, and reduce our population, tax revenue, and public services.
Supporting a path to citizenship
Instead of deporting long-time neighbors, let’s support a path to citizenship. Pacific County Immigrant Support (PCIS) has already helped a dozen residents become U.S. citizens and keep their families together. Here are a couple of success stories:
Rosario Medina of Raymond, originally from México, has been a permanent north county resident for 27 years. Married with four adult children, Rosario worked for many years in a local cannery until her recent retirement.
Diego moved to the Long Beach Peninsula in 2004 and later became a Green Card holder. Four months after contacting PCIS, he achieved his dream of becoming a U.S. citizen.
We are stronger together
This election cycle, immigrants and refugees are under attack, labeled with harmful rhetoric and threatened with mass deportation. We must not allow this trauma to our community members. Now is the time to stand united, using our voices and votes to affirm Pacific County’s traditional way of welcoming immigrants and refugees.
Together, we can reject efforts to divide us and rise up as one community. Our diversity makes us stronger. Let’s embrace it and continue to prosper.
Erika Hersey is with Pacific County Immigrant Support; Bethany Barnard is with Pacific County Voices Uniting.