In Trump’s First 100 Days, Immigrant Arrests Stir Fear Across New York—But Also Forge Community Bonds

While specific figures for New York under the new federal administration are not yet available media reports and press releases from U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE suggest there have been more than arrests of displaced persons from January to mid-April across the state Residents rally against local ICE activity in Fulton NY on April Erin Fiorini Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Arrangement It was the afternoon of Jan and President Donald Trump had just taken office hours before That day Mar a s husband picked up their four children from school and on the way home another car hit them Mar a had been up late working the night shift cleaning offices from p m to a m in Fulton located in upstate Oswego County New York But calls to her cell phone woke her up Mom immigration came and took Dad away she recalled being recounted by her -year-old daughter who was in the front seat of the family car at the time After the collision Mar a revealed her husband called the police and immigration displayed up too according to her daughter When Mar a who urged to be identified by a pseudonym for fear of jeopardizing their immigration process got to the scene of the event her husband was already handcuffed He s among an estimated hundreds of undocumented immigrants arrested in New York so far this year part of a pledge by the Trump administration which just marked its first days in office to carry out mass deportations Nationwide the number of immigration arrests in February was the highest in any month in the last seven years The Guardian released While specific figures for New York under the new federal administration are not yet available media reports and press releases from U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE suggest there have been more than arrests of movers from January to mid-April across the state As part of its routine operations ICE arrests aliens who commit crimes and other individuals who have violated our nation s immigration laws an ICE spokesperson commented via email adding that the ICE s field office in upstate Buffalo is actively exploring immigration crimes in cities across northern western and central New York State Mar a revealed her husband has no criminal history In a press release last week the Department of Homeland Assurance claimed that percent of the ICE arrests across the country since Trump took office were of immigrants with past convictions or pending charges But media reports have documented an increasing number of people without records getting caught up by ICE Shadowed by the Statue of Liberty New York has long been perceived as welcoming to immigrants But the Trump administration s crackdown is being felt even in New York City where hundreds of ICE arrests have been made despite sanctuary laws that restrict local leadership cooperation with immigration personnel Mayor Eric Adams has also challenged one of the sanctuary laws that kicked ICE off Rikers Island more than a decade ago While the mayor says the move is intended to keep dangerous people off our street city lawmakers slammed the change saying it would make immigrant New Yorkers even more wary of cooperating with police or reporting crimes On April after the City Council sued the Adams administration New York Judge Mary Rosado blocked the mayor s executive order allowing ICE agents onto Rikers Island a decision the judge reiterated on April extending the temporary restraining order City Councilmembers and advocates held a rally outside City Hall on April to protest Mayor Adams plan to allow ICE to operate on Rikers Island Gerardo Romo NYC Council Media Unit During an interview on the Fox News show My View With Lara Trump Mayor Eric Adams who in recent times saw the corruption charges against him dropped at the behest of Trump s Justice Department referred to the city s sanctuary laws as a concept A lot of people don t realize there is no law of sanctuary city That s not a law It is a concept the mayor noted in an interview on April Beyond city limits New York State has a patchwork of sanctuary laws which exist mostly in cities like Ithaca and the capital in Albany In during President Trump s first term New York immigrant advocates and state lawmakers introduced the New York for All Act a bill that would prohibit state and local materials from being used to carry out immigration enforcement Similar rule passed in neighboring states like New Jersey and Connecticut But after years of pressure this bill has not yet been approved Advocates who spoke with City Limits commented the transformation of immigration enforcement in New York is evident After arrests people are placed in a detention center meaning there has been an uptick not only in arrests but also detainees For a limited weeks Mar a s husband was detained at the ICE detention facility in Batavia NY before he was transferred to a detention center in Louisiana He was deported to El Salvador on March the day before the first three flights of immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act departed All aliens in violation of U S immigration law may be subject to arrest detention and if uncovered removable by final order removal from the United States regardless of nationality an ICE spokesperson noted After her husband s arrest Mar a lost her cleaning job because she had to take care of her daughters at night She just determined a new job but disclosed it has been a rough time for everyone He was not a delinquent man he went from church to work Mar a narrated City Limits in Spanish He was a good father That hurt me the greater part A chilling effect as well as solidarity Upstate advocates say they have been receiving more reports of immigrant arrests daily We ve seen activity at farms lumber mills restaurants outside food distributions churches packing plants construction sites mentioned Jessica Maxwell director of the Workers Center of Central New York Majority seem to be targeting workers and trying to catch them in transit where they are most of vulnerable Sightings of Frontier Patrol ICE or Department of Homeland Measure agents combined with media reports and stories circulating on immigrant population channels have created a chilling effect throughout these communities Advocates described that people have stopped going to the area church or social events out of fear just as they did during the pandemic On April a group of residents protested in Fulton against ICE and in favor of due process declared Erin Fiorini a volunteer advocate for the Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Architecture There are farms where nobody leaves anymore Maxwell commented How long is that sustainable for people For a lot of our population particularly in the North Country it s like a pandemic They don t go out to dinner Soccer leagues have been canceled she added People are not going out for social events anymore Not even the church Amid this fear helpers residents and organizations like the farmworker-led grassroots group Alianza Agr cola have created networks to order and deliver groceries for those too fearful to leave their homes or workplaces The measures do not stop there One of them a farmworker was telling me the last evening that everybody s packing boxes and sending them back to Guatemala because people feel like it s just like a ticking time bomb Maxwell disclosed It s just a matter of time and they don t want to lose everything Don t want to lose all their stuff To reach the reporter behind this story contact Daniel citylimits org To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint program here The post In Trump s First Days Immigrant Arrests Stir Fear Across New York But Also Forge Group Bonds appeared first on City Limits