‘Dangerous here’: California massacres heighten immigrants’ fears of US gun violence
- Asian-Americans are reeling after two mass shootings in California that left 18 people dead
- Immigrants say they fear for their lives in the United States, which has more guns than people
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California reels from second mass shooting in three days with 7 dead
America was supposed to be a place of safety for Jose Romero when he arrived some two years ago to work on a California farm alongside other immigrants from Mexico and China.
Even in a nation all too familiar with gun violence, the shooting was stunning, coming just two days after another gunman opened fire at a ballroom in Monterey Park, an Asian-American enclave outside Los Angeles.
In all, 18 people died in the back-to-back shootings, rattling two close-knit communities that had drawn immigrants seeking opportunities.
“You look to improve your life and then you end up with this,” said Romero’s cousin, Jose Juarez, quiet and sullen on Tuesday as he took a break from cooking at a Mexican taqueria in a Half Moon Bay strip mall.
That police said the attacks were carried out by assailants known within the community – Huu Can Tran, 72, frequented the Monterey Park dance studio and Chunli Zhao, 66, worked on a Half Moon Bay farm – only added to the sense of fear felt by immigrant groups that have been the targets of racist rhetoric and attacks in the United States.
