Dear Editor,
As a result of ongoing round ups of out-of-status immigrants in New York and across the country, Guyanese and other Caribbean undocumented (illegal) immigrants in the New York metro area are edgy and fearful about their continued stay in the US. The raids have caused fear among all immigrant communities and they are all warning each other to take precautionary measures to avoid immigration agents who are targeting immigrant communities. New York, like most cities in the US has ethnic enclaves where people choose to live among their own group. Agents have not targeted white enclaves although there are many illegals from Europe, including Irish, Greeks, Italians, Portuguese, etc, living in the US.
Because of these raids, Guyanese are watching their backs worried that they will be picked up and deported. Reports are circulating in immigrant communities of immigration raids all over New York state. Teaching colleagues of other ethnic groups inform me that dozens of undocumented members of their communities from Mexico and countries in South and Central America have been arrested. Guyanese have also been picked up. Indo-Guyanese and Trinis, regardless of religion, are easily identified and targeted for raids with federal agents mistaking them for Middle Eastern Arabs who are being targeted because of the war on terror.
Almost daily, federal immigration officials have been raiding workplaces to round up illegals. Agents descended on immigrant neighbourhoods in Queens and Brooklyn. They arrested dozens from Latin America and the Caribbean who have been working and living out of status (without a valid visa). Almost 200 illegals were picked up in Long Island. Surprisingly, agents also targeted vegetable and fruit markets, groceries, and low cost stores where low income immigrants are employed; Americans of all ethnicities refuse low-paying jobs which have been taken up by Latinos, Arabs, and people from the Caribbean.
Several Guyanese were ensnared in the recent round up. The raids brought back memories of those in the 1970s when immigration agents raided tenement buildings, offices, and other work places checking on the status of employees. Guyanese jumped windows and elevator shafts to escape arrest. If an immigrant is out of status, he or she is taken into custody and given a due process hearing and then deported unless there is a pending green card application. The raids have brought concerns to not only illegals but green card holders as well, fearing they will also be picked up and deported. But lawyers are assuring that unless a person obtains a green card through fraudulent means, he or she cannot be taken into custody or deported. However, if a green card or undocumented immigrant committed a crime, he or she can be taken into custody, given a hearing and deported.
Trump had promised during the presidential campaign to deport all illegals. But his advisors say agents from Homeland Security are only targeting criminals and those who pose a terror threat. However, most of those picked up over the last week are not criminals. The overwhelming majority simply have an immigration violation of being out of status.
President Trump tweeted last Sunday, “The crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise. Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!”
So it is not clear if Trump is going after all of the nearly ten million illegals in the US. There are thousands of out of status Guyanese living and working there. They are productive citizens contributing to the economy.
An immigration official said the New York arrests had not been impromptu and had been planned around individuals’ routines, suggesting agents know where the immigrants live and work. Agents targeted homes where college or high school students have been granted a reprieve by the Obama presidency under what is known as the DACA program. Parents of many of these students were picked up making national news. They were supposed to be exempted from arrest and deportation. Also, some who went to the immigration office for DACA renewal were also arrested.
Steven Choi, the executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, told reporters that Trump’s action was worrisome because it could be only the beginning and as such the reason for Guyanese and others being picked up by federal agents.
The general concern is that agents will ramp up Trump’s enforcement policy. Trump’s executive order includes bolstering resources for Homeland Security to go after criminal immigrants as well as those without criminal records.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to reassure New York City’s immigrants about Trump’s raids. He told reporters that New Yorkers should rest assured that city officials, including the NYPD, will never ask about immigration status, and the NYPD will never become immigration enforcement agents. New York is considered a sanctuary city, meaning its agencies will not comply with federal requests to report illegal immigrants who commit minor crimes, neither will they turn over any illegal immigrant. Trump threatened that cities that do not assist federal agents will not receive federal aid. However, the federal government is supreme over states and cities and can send agents anywhere to raid workplaces and homes for illegals.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
