Half Moon Bay on Thursday honored the seven farmworkers killed two years ago in a mass shooting and continued to push for a memorial as well as livable housing for all farmworkers.
The shooting at two mushroom farms exposed the deplorable conditions many farmworkers live in. Ayudando a Latinos a Sonar, or ALAS, an advocacy group for the farmworker community, says there’s progress toward livable housng at one site. But now, some of the people who were in favor two years ago are pushing back against a second site for senior farmworkers.
"Now we're seeing pushback from the community," said Belinda Hernandez Arriaga of ALAS. "They're saying, 'We don't want them in our downtown space -- we want housing for farmworkers, but not here.' And the sentiment that the community is elevated and having more power, which is what they deserve. They work so hard. … everyone deserves housing, it’s a human right."
Community groups would like to set up a permanent memorial at Kitty Fernandez Park near downtown. The city on Thursday displayed artist renderings of the exhibits being proposed, with many people thinking back on how the shooting made the public sympathetic to farmworkers even as many are now being targeted for deportation.
"What happened two years ago today, it changed our lives, it changed the history of not just our community but across the U.S.," former Half Moon Bay Mayor Joaquin Jimenez said. "Farmworkers became recognized, and with everything happening right now, the raids at the farms, it is an honor that the city of Half Moon Bay continues to think about honoring our farmworkers."
Later in the evening, people will gather for a vigil for the seven people shot and killed by a co-worker.
Meanwhile, the accused gunman remains behind bars and doesn’t even have a trial date yet -- and it may not be set until the end of April.
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NBC Bay Area's Robert Handa contributed to this report.
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