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Cindy and her three children live in a tiny bedroom in an apartment
shared with two other unrelated adults outside a major U.S. city. Born in Guatemala, Cindy — who does not want
her last name used — was brought to the U.S. when she was 5 years old. Yet she
still has no legal status. “Even though I don’t have papers, I feel that I’m
from here,” Cindy says. She has been working at various jobs since she was 17.
Now 29, she has a baby on the way and wants to stay in the only country
she knows, so she can make a better life for herself and her American-born
children. “Of course I’m proud of having
been born in Guatemala, but I wasn’t raised there. I don’t know the culture,
and I don’t know what it’s like to live there," she says. Her biggest
dream, she adds, is to get residency status in the U.S. But now, more than
ever, she is scared of being caught and deported.
Collateral arrests
Cindy is among an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in
the U.S., more than half from Mexico and other Latin American countries. People
wait in line for food assistance at the Catholic Charities center in
Washington, D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood. Many spoke openly of their
fears of being deported.
People wait in line for food assistance at the Catholic Charities center
in Washington, D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood. Many spoke openly of their
fears of being deported.
Some of them were targeted last week by agents from Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE), which launched enforcement actions that rounded up
680 undocumented immigrants in cities around the country.
ICE said the recent operation was no different than ones it conducted
during the administration of former President Barack Obama. Those also targeted
individuals with criminal records, the agency said.
"President [Donald] Trump has been clear in affirming the critical
mission of DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] in protecting the nation,
and directed our department to focus on removing illegal aliens who have
violated our immigration laws," Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly
said in a news release Monday.
Kelly's statement also said the specific focus is on those posing a
"threat to public safety and those charged with criminal offenses." One
of Trump’s signature campaign promises was to crack down on illegal
immigration, promising to deport up to 3 million people involved in criminal
activity. On January 25, he signed an executive order to protect public safety
that expanded the government’s reach in rounding up those involved in criminal
activity or with criminal records.
Those were not the only people netted in last week's operation, however.
Homeland Security said that 25 percent of the undocumented people rounded up
last week were not criminals, and they will be "evaluated on a
case-by-case basis and, when appropriate, arrested by ICE."
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant
Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), told reporters Friday that she has had 30
years' experience working with ICE and that last week's operations were
"not normal."
Salas said her organization received an unusual number of calls while
the operation was ongoing in Los Angeles, including reports of people being
seized in their homes and on their way to work.
Near panic
The immigrant community is full of fear. Rumors of ICE checkpoints and
sudden detentions are rife. Catholic Charities staffer Rodrigo Aguirre says he
has noticed a difference from a year ago. “We’re seeing people more afraid of
asking for help because they are fearful of the consequences,” Aguirre said.
“Fear that their name might be given to immigration and that they will
eventually be deported.” Such is the case of a Salvadoran woman waiting for
food assistance who gave her name only as Hemelina.
She said she came across the border illegally last year, fleeing a
husband who beat her, as well as gang violence. Salvadoran immigrant Hemelina
fled her country and illegally crossed the U.S. border last year. In seeking
asylum, she cited a husband who would beat her and gang violence.
Salvadoran immigrant Hemelina fled her country and illegally crossed the
U.S. border last year. In seeking asylum, she cited a husband who would beat
her and gang violence.
Catholic Charities immigration lawyer Smita Dazzo said Hemelina could
qualify for asylum, if she provides credible proof before an immigration judge.
Dazzo said that in her experience, most of the undocumented immigrants
she sees have a well-founded fear of persecution. "The majority of people
who are coming here are really fleeing for their lives,” she said. “And I don’t
think it gets the amount of coverage it merits. It’s really, really scary for
these people and some of them really, honestly feel like they have no
choice" but to flee. Dazzo added she is now consulting with undocumented
immigrants who have been in the U.S. for years and only now, after Trump’s
inauguration, are trying to fix their status.
But with so many seeking to stay, supporters of Trump’s immigration
policy say the U.S. must impose limits. Dan Stein, who heads the Federation for
American Immigration Reform, notes that in the past 40 years, the United States
has had its highest sustained level of immigration in its history, a level he
considers unsustainable.
“There are simply far more people who would like to move to a country
like the United States than we can possibly handle and still provide a good
quality of life and a shot at the American dream for people who are here
today," Stein says. Yet the question remains over what happens to the
millions of law-abiding undocumented immigrants in the U.S., with families and
jobs.
Immigration activists say an immigration reform law that allows them to
stay and obtain some kind of legal status is the answer. As Dazzo, the Catholic
Charities lawyer, put it: “There are a lot of people who come here as children
that are really upstanding citizens. They work hard, they’re family oriented —
they’re exactly what you hope that Americans are.”
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