A year after a gunman killed seven Chinese migrants who worked and lived at two farms in Half Moon Bay, California, advocates say many of the survivors are still facing uncertainty as their housing vouchers expire.
Social workers for the families who survived the massacre at the San Mateo County coastal city told NBC News that they are still confronting trauma, job insecurity and a lack of permanent housing. They hope in 2024, their city, county and state will bring them some final solutions.
The conditions at the two farms targeted in the shooting were “deplorable,” acknowledged California Gov. Gavin Newsom at the time, with pay as low as $9 an hour and workers residing in shipping containers. The tragedy not only left survivors and family members without income, but also displaced them from those residences, leaving dozens to start from scratch.
“The city and county have long known about the deplorable working and housing conditions of migrant workers,” said Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of advocacy group Chinese for Affirmative Action, who has met with survivors. “They have a duty and obligation to address these issues and to support the impacted families with their long term healing and recovery.”
During a remembrance ceremony on Sunday, Half Moon Bay’s Mayor Joaquin Jimenez updated the community on the steps being taken to support farmworkers in his city.
“Farmworkers have never been recognized,” he said during the vigil. “Their safety, their well-being, that includes decent housing.”
A development with 46 farmworker residences is underway, San Mateo County board supervisor Ray Mueller said at the vigil, and 18 of those units are now available to families. But in the meantime, many survivors feel like they’re in temporary housing limbo, advocates said.
Saoleng U, who is managing the cases of six surviving families through the outreach organization Self-Help for the Elderly, said that, while all of them currently stay in…
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