San Jose breweries join nationwide collaboration for immigrant rights

A pair of downtown San Jose breweries have joined a nationwide collaboration of beer makers that aims to raise awareness and funds for immigrant rights.

The idea for the collaboration began early this summer when Jessica Salas, a beer industry veteran, wanted to find a way to channel the intense emotions she felt after watching videos of demonstrators opposing immigration enforcement operations throughout Los Angeles.

“I felt completely angry and helpless,” said Salas, a former Southern California resident who now lives in Portland, Ore. “I thought there had to be something I could do not only for immigrant communities in LA but also nationwide.”

Inspired by past beer collaborations for social justice causes, Salas launched Hasta La Raíz; the name means “to the root” in Spanish. A portion of funds raised from sales of each Hasta La Raíz beer supports Freedom for Immigrants, a nonprofit organization working to abolish immigration detention.

Nearly 70 craft brewers throughout the U.S. have signed on to what Salas calls a “collective resistance movement.” Breweries are free to craft any style of beer they want and can donate whatever amount they feel comfortable with, she added.

“The beer community is a tight-knit one. To see these breweries fight for other communities is really cool and warms my heart,” Salas said.

Adrian Kalaveshi, co-owner of Clandestine Brewing at 980 S. First St. in San Jose, heard about the Hasta La Raíz movement from an employee who suggested they participate. The collaboration is a good fit for their business and reflects the traditional role many taprooms fill in a community, Kalaveshi said.

“This movement is extremely important to us,” he added. “We have a number of employees who are first-generation immigrants. We see what’s happening in the news every day and what’s happening in California and elsewhere. This was a perfect opportunity for us to participate and bring people together. Taprooms have always been meeting places where people can get together and talk about their differences over a beer.”

Clandestine Brewing is contributing to the collaboration with “V,” a Vienna-style lager inspired by Mexican amber lagers.

Felipe Bravo, co-owner and head brewer at Fox Tale Fermentation Project, 30 E. Santa Clara St., thinks it’s important that the brewery industry “as a whole participates in campaigns like this,” especially since so many of the industry’s workers are immigrants or descendants of immigrants.

“As a community-based business, we have a responsibility to push the message forward,” said Bravo, whose grandparents immigrated from Mexico. “There should be a lot of attention on migrant freedom, and I think this is a very good way to help. It just kind of seems like no one’s safe anymore. If you can’t be safe as a citizen, that’s a really horrible path to be going down. It sets a fear about which communities will be targeted next.”

Bravo added that anything that gets more people to come in and try new beers is good for business. For their Hasta La Raíz collaboration, Fox Tale created a Red Corn Kӧlsch.

“If we’re excited about this moment and this beer and this cause, then people are going to come and support it,” Bravo said.

District 3 Councilmember Anthony Tordillos said he applauds small businesses taking a stand for immigrant rights, and noted that it aligns with recent policy reforms by the San Jose City Council. Those include rules prohibiting law enforcement officers from concealing their faces and requiring officers to wear visible identification, and a proposal restricting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using city property for immigration enforcement operations.

“San Jose is a city of immigrants, and the city has been doing our part, stepping up with policies to make sure we are reinforcing our non-collaboration policy with ICE, and doing what we can to stand in solidarity with our immigrant communities,” Tordillos said. “It’s really great to see private businesses also stepping up to show that support for immigrant communities.”