President Trump’s threatened roundup of about 2,000 undocumented immigrant families didn’t occur on a large scale Sunday, but activists around the country are warning migrants that the threat is not over. About 1 million people in the country illegally have final removal orders, but the operation targets about 2,000 of them.
The American Immigration Council said it received reports of minor raids in New York, Oregon and Washington State, but told Patch those operations were “normal activity” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Only a handful or arrests were reported, but areas typically teeming with immigrants were noticeably quiet as families stayed indoors and refused to answer their doors
Large-scale raids had been expected Sunday in 10 U.S. cities: Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Las Angeles, New Orleans, New York City and San Francisco. The city of New Orleans said ICE enforcement would be suspended through the weekend due to threats by now Tropical Depression Barry.
Here are five things to know about ICE raids on undocumented families:
1. Why didn’t the large-scale sweep happen? Instead of one large sweep, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation will be carried out in smaller raids over a period of days, The New York Times reported. Department of Homeland Security officials said the large sweep was aborted at the last minute because news reports had tipped off immigrant communities, the newspaper said.
With the work week beginning, immigrants may have more difficulty avoiding ICE agents.
“My boss said we should be on alert because ICE may show up, but I also have to go to work,” an undocumented immigrant in the New York borough of Queens told The Times.
“I can’t stay home all day,” the immigrant said. “My children need food. I need to pay rent. We have to keep living our lives. We know that there is a risk we won’t see our children when we close our apartment door. I really don’t want to think about it.”
2. Who’s targeted? Families recently arriving in the United States from Central America are targeted to deter a flood of asylum-seeking migrants at the southern border. Trump has said it’s unfair to allow them to stay in the country while other immigrants have been waiting for years to become U.S. citizens through a legal process.
Some of those targeted have been in the country for only a few months, and many have said their asylum cases haven’t had a chance to wend through the courts.
3. What’s the latest from the Trump administration? The administration on Monday escalated its efforts to tamp down on asylum-seekers, and said it would end asylum protections for most migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, reversing decades of U.S. policy on how refugees are treated
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A new rule published in the Federal Register, expected to go into effect Tuesday, undocumented families who pass through another country first will not be eligible for asylum. That includes children who are traveling alone. There are a few exceptions, including victims of human trafficking nd asylum-seekers who were denied protection by another country.
Attorney General William Barr said in a statement the country has been overwhelmed by the burdens associated with apprehending and processing hundreds of thousands of migrants at the southern border and the new rule “will decrease forum shopping by economic migrants and those who seek to exploit our asylum system to obtain entry to the United States.”
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan told The Associated Press that additional funding given by Congress for aid at the U.S.-Mexico border isn’t enough, and until Congress can act, “this interim rule will help reduce a major ‘pull’ factor driving irregular migration to the United States.”
The new policy is certain to face legal challenges. American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt told The AP the rule is “patently unlawful” and the organization will sue to stop it.
4. How did officials and activists in targeted communities respond ahead of the anticipated raids? In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that ICE enforcement actions were unsuccessful in Sunset Park and Harlem were unsuccessful, and reminded immigrants they have rights.
In Atlanta, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms urged migrants to remain in their homes, told them not to open their doors to anyone without a warrant and encouraged them to travel in groups. The Atlanta public school system also warned families that ICE agents often enter homes or approach immigrants on the street, at work, in their cars or in courts, and reminded them to know their rights.
In Baltimore, Mayor Jack Young said in a statement that “immigrants who call Baltimore home should not live in fear of family separation and deportation” and that he would “continue to do all that is in my power so that all Baltimore residents, including immigrants, feel safe and welcome in our city.” The Baltimore Police Department also codified a policy ahead of the anticipated raids stating its officers would neither participate nor provide traffic control around areas where immigration enforcement activities took place.
In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed said the police department in her city “is committed to not dedicating any financial resources to be cooperating with ICE” and that it would “stand by our immigrant community and continue to invest and provide resources to help.” She called it “really sad” that families, particularly those with families, “in fear of going to work, going to school, going about their daily lives.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis spoke out about “traumatizing and inhumane” treatment of immigrant families. “To rip a child from the warm and loving embrace of their family is an unspeakable crime against humanity,” Solis said. “The United States has been and will always be a nation of immigrants. I call on all Americans to reject the politics of division, hate, and fear.”
In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot moved to block ICE officials’ access to city police databases and said neither the city nor its police department would cooperate in the anticipated sweeps. “A lot of these issues regarding immigration and the fear and uncertainty about what’s happening is falling disproportionately and harshly on children,” Lightfoot said at a news conference last week,adding, “Chicago is a city of immigrants … Chicago is and will always be a welcoming city that will never tolerate ICE tearing our families apart in our communities.”
However, in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn, Village Manager Larry Deetjen told Patch that the village “supports the U.S. Constitution” and its sworn officers and “all levels of government” would support the enforcement action, noting, “We are a ‘Nation of Laws.’ “
In Houston, Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee encouraged immigrants fearful of the raids to seek sanctuary at area churches. She told a local television station that in response to the threatened raids, she “had to come up with some way there would be a place that some family, even if it is just one, would find a place to come.”
In Miami, WeCount community organizer Guadalupe Delacurc told Patch that Homestead, located about 41 miles outside of Miami, has long been a target of ICE and family separations aren’t new. “There has always been separations of families in Homestead. There have always been pickups made from ICE agents in both working areas and in individuals’ own homes,” Delacurc said.
In Colorado, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside of an ICE facility in Aurora to protest the treatment of undocumented imigrants held inside.
5. What’s at stake for Trump? The ICE raids and ending asylum are the latest in a revolving door of policy ideas by Trump to deliver on 2016 campaign promises to stop migrants from entering the United States at the southern border. The issue is top of mind as he seeks a second term.
Prominent among the failed policy ideas was the construction of a border wall that would be paid for by Mexico. Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress at the time, but were reluctant to approve the funding. Trump shut down the government for 35 days, the longest shutdown in history, over border wall funding, but reopened it when he didn’t get the funding he wanted. He then declared a national emergency to divert already allocated military funding to build the wall, but is tied up in court.
He also dispatched thousands of troops to the southern border, but they were prevented under U.S. laws from enforcing immigration codes. Instead, they assisted with some construction, but did little else until they were finally withdrawn.
He also has taken a pounding, both by the public and in the courts, over the administration’s policy of separating children from their parents, and proposed tariffs on Mexico if it didn’t stop the flow of migrants.
Patch editors in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and San Francisco contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed.