The 805 UndocuFund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing undocumented immigrants in the area with donation-based natural disaster aid and immigration resources. 

According to their website, undocumented immigrants make up about 10% of the population in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. The organization launched in “January 2018 in response to the Thomas Fire and Montecito Mudslides.”

Along with rendering financial aid after natural disasters, the 805 UndocuFund has also provided support to undocumented individuals and families in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,per the 805 UndocuFund website.

Within the 805 UndocuFund also exists the 805 Rapid Response Hotline. This hotline is available to individuals in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties, who can call in and report U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sightings, according to 805 UndocuFund Rapid Response Coordinator Beatriz Basurto. Their staff, which includes volunteers, then verifies that the report is accurate before they respond to the scene, Basurto said.

“We train community members, like everyday folks, who want to be involved in our efforts to be able to go out to those locations and respond to them as quick as possible because that’s the part of the rapid response,” Basurto said.

Basurto said a large portion of undocumented immigrant arrested have been men, the usual breadwinners of the family, which then leaves the mother and children to fend for themselves.

“For families whose loved ones are arrested, what we do on our end is connect them to trusted legal support, or support them with financial support,” Basurto said.

Basurto said the Rapid Response Hotline was initially activated in 2014, around the time President Donald Trump announced his presidential candidacy. Basurto said the Rapid Response Hotline went dormant during former President Joe Biden’s administration, but has since been reactivated.

“I think his [Trump’s] first term, it was a very blatant basis of xenophobia, racism, you know, all the isms. And this time around, it’s even more upfront. And so you are seeing, like, callous tactics from the administration and now empowering, even more so, ICE, and how they go about arresting people,” Basurto said.


Basurto said Trump’s administration is intentionally instilling fear in communities.

“When you instill fear into communities, it paralyzes them,” Basurto said. “When you think of organizations who are willing and wanting to 100% support undocumented people, these are not only resources you give to undocumented people, but you also let them know and build community with them, letting them know that they’re not alone in this.”

Nancy Hernandez, adjunct professor of communication at California Lutheran University, said that in her Latinx Media in the United States class, she often raises awareness of nonprofit immigration-resource organizations in Ventura County similar to the 805 UndocuFund.

“I’m very impressed to see all of the work that they [these nonprofits] are doing and I applaud a lot of the things that they’re pushing, you know, they’re trying to educate our community, which I think is very important,” Hernandez said.

As the daughter of immigrant parents who came to the U.S. in search of the American Dream, Hernandez said she feels she has a responsibility to educate the new generation and encourage them to get involved in nonprofits like the 805 UndocuFund.

“If there’s no pushback and we just kind of, you know, go with the flow, things don’t change,” Hernandez said.

Basurto said the 805 UndocuFund Rapid Response Hotline staff faces different kinds of challenges in the work that they do. According to Basurto, the work that they do is inherently difficult because they are dealing with ICE and an anti-immigrant administration head on. 

“We are essentially always working against the clock each time someone is arrested, right? Making sure that we get to them as soon as we can, so they have a fighting chance to stay and fight their case stateside,” Basurto said.

Basurto also said she and her staff must battle the spread of misinformation by the public, which can make it difficult for them to properly respond to situations. Another challenge faced by Basurto and her team, she said, is individuals calling in to counteract the organization’s efforts.

“You have these folks being harassed because someone’s calling in, wanting to report someone so they can get deported. Or they’re just calling just to simply harass,” Basurto said.

Hernandez said organizations like the 805 UndocuFund bring together undocumented immigrants and allies in the community alike.

“I think it should be a partnership. I appreciate individuals who aren’t necessarily part of the Latino community because it just makes us that much stronger, right, when we have individuals, who don’t really, who aren’t part of our group, but believe the same things we believe because they see the importance of these certain jobs or individuals who are here, and they’re here contributing to society,” Hernandez said. “Truth is we’re stronger together.”

Basurto said anyone who wants to get involved in the 805 UndocuFund’s efforts can apply on their website or contact her directly at beatriz@805undocufund.org.