Within a month of his inauguration, President Trump signed executive orders that would revoke birthright citizenship and expedite deportation. These policies have led to fear and unrest in Santa Rosa Junior College students, and false reports of ICE raids are making it worse.
According to SRJC humanities and religious studies instructor Rafael Guzmán, SRJC students have already unenrolled out of concern for their safety.
“What some students told me in December, was that they were not planning to come back in 2025, because they were fearful. Others told me that their parents were moving back in the spring, and that they may have to go with their parents,” Guzmán said.
In an effort to combat rumors stirred up by President Trump’s immigration policies, Guzmán has urged people who suspect they are seeing ICE activity to check and report it with resources created for that purpose, not through social media.
Anyone who sees suspected ICE activity can call the NBRRN at (707)-800-4544. This hotline is for reporting such activity or to verify rumors. The NBRRN has also released “yellow cards,” which tell the holder what to do if they see ICE activity, and “red cards” to be given to ICE if the holder is detained by them. These cards are available at the SRJC Intercultural Center.
Uncertainty toward federal actions can lead to Sonoma County locals making false reports on ICE activity. The proper channels can sort fact from fiction, but social media can’t.
On Feb. 1, a Facebook message told people that ICE was present at the Walmart in Rohnert Park. This turned out to be false, but that didn’t stop immigrants from staying home and avoiding the area, Guzmán said.
“The intention of the administration, as we know, is about creating fear so that people will self deport,” Guzmán said.
While some people may mistakenly create false reports from an overzealous need to help those who are vulnerable, others could have malicious intent. Guzmán said recent social media posts claimed that a man running a fruit stand near the Rohnert Park Home Depot had been arrested in a raid. When Guzmán checked on this, not only was it not true, but the accounts that first reported it were new and used misspelled names, leading him to believe that it was done intentionally to rob the man of business.
“Half of my life right now is putting out fires,” Guzman said. “No, immigration is not at Corby. No, immigration is not at Walmart. The list goes on, and on, and on, and that is the intention of the administration.”
The common thread in these incidents is social media. People post on social media because they know others will see it, but these posts lack verification. The rumor can spread, but neither the person posting it, nor the people reading and sharing know if there is any real cause for alarm.
“I think there’s people who post stuff on there whose intentions are good, but at the end of the day that does cause fear and panic, and we should prevent that from spreading further,” said Brian Fructuoso, the marketing chair for the SRJC Interclub Council.
The NBRRN is looking for volunteers who they can contact to verify reports, Guzmán said. Even those who are not affected by Trump’s policies may corroborate what others are reporting nearby to give them a more accurate picture of the scene.
Guzmán said that he is confident that the SRJC campus is a safe place, because campus officials have a plan to handle possible immigration raids, but they have not done enough to let people know it exists. So even though SRJC has guidelines in place for faculty, students are still worried because they are unaware of their level of protection.
“I feel that the space itself is a very safe space because we have a protocol in place for immigration, and as long as all employees follow the rules, we should be fine. I Think we are creating a safer space, we just need to be more vocal about it,” Guzmán said.
