Immigration
Regional Inequality Context
About one in five tri-county residents are immigrants. They come from many countries, speak over 100 languages, and have built lives across all three counties for decades. Most undocumented residents have lived in the United States for more than ten years.
Immigrant workers are concentrated in the industries that define the Central Coast economy. Latinx immigrants make up 92 percent of the region’s farmworkers, and a majority of both cooks and construction laborers across the three counties are Latinx immigrants. Agriculture and retail trade employ the largest shares of immigrant workers overall. Despite this concentration, immigrant workers earn significantly less than the regional average: median hourly wages for immigrant workers range from $17 to $18 per hour across the three counties, compared to overall medians of $25 to $28 per hour. Undocumented workers earn even less, between $13 and $14 per hour on average.
These wage disparities reflect structural conditions rooted in documentation status and language access. Undocumented workers have less ability to advocate for better wages and working conditions, and the industries where immigrants are most concentrated offer limited pathways to advancement. The result is a labor market where a significant portion of the workforce sustains the region’s key industries while remaining locked out of its economic gains.
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Resources
805UndocuFund
805 UndocuFund mobilizes resources when disaster hits to provide short-term financial relief to undocumented residents, and advocate for long-term systems change to ensure immigrants are effectively included in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
805 Immigrant/ Migrante
The 805 Immigrant Coalition serves as a sustainable and growing network for ever-more effective long-term immigrant rights advocacy work at the local, regional, state and national level.
Central Coast Immigration Network (COIN)
Central Coast Immigration Network (COIN) is a coalition of immigrant-serving legal organizations in Santa Barbara County united to strategize and protect immigrant communities across the Central Coast.
SLO County UndocuSupport
SLO County UndocuSupport provides and connects resources, support and advocacy for and with undocumented and other immigrant families in SLO County in order to make meaningful impact and true system change.
Immigrant Legal Defense Center
Immigrant Legal Defense Center is a nonprofit agency promoting equal access to justice and due process by providing pro bono legal services to indigent immigrants in deportation proceedings and educating immigrants on their basic civil rights.
VC Defensa
VC Defensa is a coalition of local organizations dedicated to protecting the immigrant and refugee population of Ventura County.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
At CHIRLA, civic-minded immigrant families work for a world where they are free to move, participate in democracy, and enjoy human rights. CHIRLA relies on the love and vision of our community to organize and build power among people, institutions, and organizations to change public opinion and craft progressive policies that promote human, civil and labor rights for everyone.
California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice
We utilize coordination, advocacy, and legal services to fight for the liberation of immigrants in detention in California.
Immigrant Legal Resources Know Your Rights Cards
All people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, have certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. The ILRC’s red cards give examples of how people can exercise these rights.
National Immigration Law Center Know Your Rights
This paper provides advice about what to do if Border Patrol agents or other immigration officers try to approach you in a health clinic or at another place where you are trying to get services.
ACLU Immigrants’ Rights (English/Spanish)
This FAQ answers questions about the rights of all people in the United States, regardless of immigration status.
What the Region Still Needs
The Central Coast has significantly expanded its capacity to protect undocumented and immigrant communities over the past year. A wide range of nonprofits, community groups, small businesses, educational institutions, and religious organizations have joined this work: alerting residents during immigration enforcement activity, hosting Know Your Rights trainings, and distributing resources for at-risk community members. Creating equal protections for immigrants requires labor protections for all workers regardless of documentation status, pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and access to basic needs including healthcare, housing, and education.
Explore the Data
Agriculture is one of the tri-county area’s biggest industries, amounting to $5.145 billion in gross crop values in 2024. Immigrants make up a majority of the agricultural workforce and without their labor, agricultural production grinds to a halt.
There are more than 95,000 undocumented immigrants living in our region and more than 102, 757 people living with an undocumented family member. These people are all impacted by our unequal immigration system and affected by threats of deportation, economic instability, and limited access to social services.
