Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 22/strong>
ABC7 News: Social service organizations in New York City are working to educate local migrants about their rights, as ICE raids target major cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta.
Sarahi Marquez, 33, stood before a room full of news cameras Monday afternoon to share the new level of fear that surrounds the customers and employees at her restaurant and bakery on Staten Island, a thriving 11-year-old business run by a college graduate and DACA recipient who left Mexico with her family and arrived in the U.S. at the tender age of six.
“We are scared. We are facing a moment where we feel as though we’re not safe,” Marquez said.
It is that fear and confusion, driven by the immigration crackdown and executive actions of the Trump administration, that re-energized social service organizations to inform and educate immigrants about their rights and how to navigate the new rules. There is considerable worry about the profiling groups of people.
“How do you tell that someone does not have legal status in this country or may not have legal status or is in the process of seeking legal status,” said Rosanna Eugenio of New York Immigration Coalition. “You can’t tell that by looking at someone.”
That’s one reason for the major concern — that the raids by ICE agents and federal law enforcement will sweep up people who are not undocumented, but in the country legally.
“The Department of Homeland Security directives could also impact people who were allowed into the United States in the last several years using a legal process designated by Customs and Border Patrol so that they could seek asylum in the United States,” said Margaret Martin of Catholic Charities.
Federal officials have made it clear that enforcement actions will take place in areas previously recognized as safe havens for the undocumented, such as churches, schools and private businesses.
The founder and president of Project Rousseau spent part of Monday educating the educators, New York City school teachers and administrators, about what they can do and should know if federal agents arrive on campus.
“We are informing them of some of the rights that the young people in their building have,” said Project Rousseau President Andrew Heinrich. “So, as they think about how they want their response to be formulated and how they want to work with their own council, they can at least be informed of that.”
