About two-dozen Coastsiders gathered at Community United Methodist Church on Wednesday night to learn how to protect neighbors from what many see as illegal and immoral detention by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
It was not the first time local residents have come together to discuss the formation of so-called Rapid Response Teams on the San Mateo County coast. The idea is to create a cadre of trained Coastsiders who can respond to a text at a moment’s notice whenever someone fears ICE may be at work in the community. Organizers seek about 40 people in each zip code. There were already about that many on the Coastisde, organizers say, and more people who had signed up to keep an eye on the South Coast.
