NEW YORK – News that Central American families are the targets of stepped-up immigration raids and deportations has immigrant rights advocates worried.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly preparing raids targeting hundreds of families that arrived during a surge of border crossings starting in early 2014.
Fleeing violence in Central America, many filed asylum claims that have been denied.
But Susanna Saul, an attorney with the immigration and family law group Her Justice that serves low-income women, says most had no access to legal advice during the asylum process.
"Many of them either did not put forward any kind of case, or put forward a case that was not legally sufficient because they didn't know how to make the case themselves and they were ordered deported," she states.
Pressure to begin deportations increased after a court ordered DHS to release families held in detention centers.
Saul represents a woman who fled violence in Honduras only to become the victim of a crime in the United States. Her asylum application was denied but, as a crime victim who cooperated with law enforcement, she is entitled to a special visa known as U nonimmigrant status.
"And the U nonimmigrant status petition process takes over a year, so the idea that she could be the subject of a raid would obviously interfere with her ability to pursue that relief," Saul states.
U visas are available to victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and other crimes.
Immigration law is often compared to tax law for its levels of complexity and there are a number of legitimate grounds for applying for U.S. residency.
But as Saul points out, most of those facing deportation actions have few options open to them.
"Many, many people don't know what they're eligible for, and there's a critical shortage of lawyers who are out there and able to take cases for low-income people," she stresses.
Immigrants' advocates say the first raids took place on Saturday, resulting in the detention of at least 11 Central American immigrant families in Texas and Georgia.
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New Mexico immigrant-based and immigrant-serving organizations are developing strategies to defend those workers and their families in the new year.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised the largest deportation of undocumented residents in U.S. history when he takes office in January.
Marcela Díaz, executive director of the advocacy group Somos Un Pueblo Unido, said immigrant workers, entrepreneurs and consumers are essential to the state's economy. She hopes residents and state lawmakers will take a stand to protect them.
"Demand that our local and state policymakers don't use the money that we are generating for this state, against us by spending very limited public safety resources in helping the Trump administration enforce civil and federal immigration laws," Díaz urged.
Díaz pointed out the state has about 60,000 undocumented immigrants -- 10 % of the population -- who pay nearly $70 million annually in state and local taxes. They account for 13% of the workforce in some industries, including oil and gas. Advocacy groups want lawmakers to consider a bill to provide economic relief for families with children who lose income due to immigration enforcement.
Díaz believes lawmakers need to be proactive when they convene in January. She noted it became clear during the last Trump administration there were not enough experts in New Mexico, particularly in rural areas, to help those trying to obtain citizenship while caught in the deportation process.
"That's primarily because there aren't enough immigration attorneys or low-cost, no-cost legal services in the state of New Mexico," Díaz explained. "That's one of the big asks that we're going to make this year is, spend some of our money in helping us defend our families."
She acknowledged there are a lot of uncertainties about exactly what the Trump administration is going to do in 2025, but emphasized there is already a huge worker shortage in the state and deportations will make matters worse.
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The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas predicts if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his campaign promise of mass deportations, it would have serious negative effects on the state's economy.
The President-elect has said on "day one" of his new term in office, he will launch the largest deportation program in American history.
Sarah Everett, policy director with the ACLU of Arkansas, said industries such as Tyson Foods and many local farmers rely on the immigrant population to operate.
"We're certainly talking about a rise in grocery costs," said Everett. "And what we've seen in previous upticks in deportations has been inflation as well as higher labor costs - and when restaurants have to shut down because they can't find enough employees, the employees who aren't deported lose out, too."
She added that immigrants have protections under the 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates there are 58,000 undocumented people living in Arkansas.
The ACLU is advising people who are legal immigrants to have a plan in place in case they are detained.
Individuals are encouraged to carry their paperwork with them and have an established relationship with an immigration attorney.
Everett said now that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is suspended, many young people don't have any protection.
"When it comes to racial profiling, we want to hear from people if students' rights are affected," said Everett. "All students have a right to a public education regardless of their immigration status. And then, if people are being harassed or mistreated by law enforcement, we want to hear about that too."
She says the ACLU has also created a petition asking Congress to cut funding to the Department of Homeland Security to prevent soon-to-be President Trump from having access to the resources he needs to carry out mass deportation plans.
The petition is online at action.ACLU.org.
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Immigrants and the agencies that help them are preparing for what could happen when President-elect Donald Trump returns to office. In Wyoming, a "Know your Rights" training is being offered this weekend. Trump has said he'll take fast action when he steps into office to launch a "mass deportation program." There are limitations to the power and funding he has to immediately do so, but experts say they expect to see "significantly more" arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, during his presidency.
Antonio Serrano, advocacy director of ACLU of Wyoming, will host a workshop in Jackson this Saturday to help people understand their rights in case they do interact with immigration agents.
"Don't be like somebody who thinks, 'Well, this is never going to happen to me.' We just want to teach people their rights, so that way, we can hopefully make folks feel a little more empowered," he said.
Serrano added that the training will explain different kinds of warrants and address various scenarios including if ICE comes to a person's home or workplace, or stops someone while driving or walking.
Immigrants make up just over 3% of Wyoming's population, or about 19,000 people, according to the American Immigration Council. Serrano advises people to learn their rights in advance, so there's no need to try to understand them "in the moment." He hopes knowledge will help alleviate some fears.
"When you know that you have people in community who can stand with you, who can support you, who can have your back, it makes those things feel a little less scary," he continued.
Serrano noted there is also information on immigrant rights available on the ACLU website, including for students and families.
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