{"id":68606,"date":"2025-10-25T11:43:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T18:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?p=68606"},"modified":"2025-10-28T19:22:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T02:22:54","slug":"trump-ice-sf-bay-area-spanish-whatsapp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/trump-ice-sf-bay-area-spanish-whatsapp\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump called off \u201csurge\u201d in the Bay Area. Inside El Tecolote\u2019s immigrant-centered emergency response"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The past week has been chaotic for Bay Area residents. What began as rumors of immigration raids at Home Depot stores near San Francisco escalated into confirmed reports of federal agents being deployed to Alameda, only for President Donald Trump to abruptly call off the planned \u201csurge\u201d days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee esta historia en espa\u00f1ol <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As our communities come together to heal from the fear that swept through the Bay Area, we\u2019re reflecting on what happened, what we\u2019ve learned, and the vital role newsrooms like ours serving Spanish-speaking immigrants hold in our community\u2019s collective emergency response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside 48 hours of uncertainty<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday morning, October 21, El Tecolote<\/em> received tips warning of large-scale immigration raids at hardware stores across the region. Community organizations quickly began checking in with one another, but no one could identify a direct source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the face of unverified but alarming information, community leaders echoed a clear message: \u201cFocus on power, not panic<\/a>.\u201d For our newsroom, that meant making sure our community was connected to trustworthy, fact-based information. Our investigative researcher Yesica Prado sent questions to the Coast Guard and other agencies, hoping to bring clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Wednesday afternoon, The San Francisco Chronicle <\/em>broke the story that more than 100 federal agents had been dispatched<\/a> to the Bay Area. Initially hesitant to amplify an anonymously sourced report, Prado corroborated the story with the U.S. Coast Guard, who confirmed in an email<\/a> the previous night that it was providing logistical support to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at its Alameda base, and we published our own update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our teams went live Thursday morning. Reporters from both outlets documented how advocacy groups such as Bay Resistance organized protests<\/a>, while Mission Action and others distributed Know Your Rights<\/a> materials. Local officials<\/a> reaffirmed San Francisco\u2019s sanctuary commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early Thursday morning, protesters gathered outside the Coast Guard base as vans carrying CBP agents were spotted entering the facility, resulting in tense<\/a> stand-offs. Hours later, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced<\/a> that Trump had told him the planned \u201csurge\u201d would be called off in the city, which the president later confirmed<\/a> in a Truth Social post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions lingered about what that meant for the rest of the Bay Area, leaving many to wonder if Oakland would be next. In Alameda, protests continued throughout the day, leading to several arrests. That night, Coast Guard officers shot at a U-Haul driver<\/a> who allegedly attempted to ram into the base, injuring a bystander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Friday morning, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee confirmed that Border Patrol operations had been canceled<\/a> across the entire Bay Area, \u201cfor now.\u201d Still, city officials, community leaders, immigrant families and our newsroom remain on edge, watching for any renewed federal action as troops remain stationed in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Preparing for the worst<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Trump was elected president in November 2024, El Tecolote <\/em>knew our communities would again<\/a> become a target. This year, ICE has been increasingly detaining members of our community who are trying to comply with the U.S. government and settle their cases in immigration court or check-in appointments<\/a>, but the city hadn\u2019t yet seen mass raids like those taking place in Los Angeles<\/a> or Chicago<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a small newsroom with limited resources, we understood that preparation and partnerships would be key to responding to moments of uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing that our traditional digital channels \u2014 social media, newsletter and website \u2014 mostly reached English-dominant Latinos, we restructured our editorial strategy this year to better serve Spanish-speaking immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, we launched a Spanish-language WhatsApp community<\/a>, pairing it with our legacy bilingual print publication and community events to ensure residents could access immigration updates, community resources and local news in their language. Through a partnership with the Community News Lab<\/a>, we also held tabling events<\/a> and listening sessions<\/a> for Spanish speakers. Editorially, we focused on creating explainers<\/a> that would help our readers navigate these complicated policy shifts<\/a>, and uplifting the voices<\/a> of impacted people in our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, community partnerships with groups like Mission Action, Nuevo Sol Day Laborers Program, Mission Street Vendors, Somos Esenciales and Mujeres Unidas y Activas have been critical to this effort. Just last month, we hosted a community forum<\/a> with some of these organizations and their members to reflect and answer questions on what safety and trustworthy information mean in a time of heightened immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Serving our community in real time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During those tense 48 hours, El Tecolote<\/em> was the only newsroom distributing live updates via mobile devices directly to Spanish-speaking audiences across the San Francisco Bay Area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing Editor and veteran translator Katie Beas, along with reporter Mariana Duran, translated the live blog\u2019s breaking updates, delivering crucial information and voice memos in Spanish. Volunteer Beatriz Johnston monitored Alameda County\u2019s Rapid Response Network, which was fielding a surge of hotline calls. Social video producer Emma Garc\u00eda and volunteer Maura Corkery joined Mission Local<\/em> reporters in documenting the protests outside the Coast Guard base. Researcher Yesica Prado pressed Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard for clarification. Editor-in-Chief Erika Carlos coordinated newsroom efforts, while Executive Director Imelda Carrasco oversaw the organization\u2019s emergency planning and made sure staff were cared for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the day on Thursday, our WhatsApp group had grown by nearly 800 new members, who were asking questions and adding loved ones to receive trusted updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Preparing for what\u2019s next<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite assurances from city leaders that federal operations have been called off, many community members remain skeptical. And for good reason: Trump\u2019s presidency has been anything but stable and known for frequently reversing course<\/a>. Like them, the staff and volunteers at El Tecolote<\/em> will remain vigilant and prepared for whatever comes next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our newsroom has several strategies for reaching and engaging Spanish-speaking immigrants in San Francisco, and this week showed just how critical our WhatsApp community has become for delivering accurate, timely information during a crisis. While we acknowledge the security risks<\/a> with WhatsApp that we make our members aware of, it remains one of the most widely used tools among our communities. At this moment, it allowed us to come together quickly, and we plan to explore additional secure methods for emergency communication in collaboration with our members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To receive verified updates and Know Your Rights resources in Spanish, join El Tecolote\u2019s WhatsApp Community here<\/a>. If you have loved ones who could benefit, please share the link with them: https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/Cf6axQCSyjy9aDf1ojMG8m<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please support our work: Become a Founding Member<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Become part of El Tecolote\u2019s<\/em> emergency planning by supporting our newsroom with a monthly donation. Your contribution helps us send reporters to the scene during breaking events, press government officials for answers, staff our WhatsApp and emergency-response platforms and pay fair wages for professional journalists doing this critical work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Become a member today. We can\u2019t do this work without you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n