Raids, Trump orders have immigrant communities on edge

Since assuming office, Trump has signed an executive order calling for the construction of a physical wall along the U.S. -Mexico border, and another demanding that jurisdictions where officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration law do not receive federal funds.

McAuliffe cited the story by NBC4 and attached it to his letter to Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly, asking for “an immediate briefing” from the department and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement division “regarding recent and ongoing immigration enforcement and removal operations in the Commonwealth of Virginia”. “And I have to convince them that what I’m saying is, is right”, he said.

Several have asked me, “Why didn’t she fix her immigration status?”

García de Rayos is no hardened criminal; she just had the bad luck of living in a country with a heart that has hardened. She is just another Mexican mother who has been checking in faithfully with immigration authorities. Studies have concluded that mass deportation would significantly hit the USA gross domestic product.

The children of illegal immigrations, called DREAMERS, were excluded from enforcement.

Budget is passing through the White House next week, so if this gets approved by Congress, and they come one billion out of the hole on top of traditional funding, you’re going to see a lot of deportations taking place.

In one alleged incident, a group of four men decked out as ICE agents approached an immigrant in Woodside, Queens, and demanded that he fork over all of his money to avoid being detained and deported to his home country. His friends insist that the confession was coerced.

“We’ve begun a nationwide effort to remove criminal aliens, gang members, drug dealers and others who pose a threat to public safety”, he told reporters.

Remain silent. ICE can use anything you say against you in your immigration case so claim your right to remain silent or say “I plead the Fifth Amendment and choose to remain silent”.

According to those news organizations, of the 41 illegal immigrants arrested in the ICE enforcements, 38 had criminal convictions.

Trump was referring to his predecessor’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows young people who were brought into the country illegally as children to stay and obtain work permits. They do not amount to probable cause or go through the process of judicial review needed to justify a warrant.

Among the items Trump addressed in his free-wheeling news conference on Thursday was DACA. “Because you have these incredible kids, in many cases”, he said. “DHS is committed to ensuring that people seeking to participate in activities or utilize services provided at any sensitive location are free to do so without fear or hesitation”.

But it is the temporary ban on foreign travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries – Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia – that is forcing immigrants and ordinary travellers who want to visit, live, work or study in the United States to worry the most about their future.

There is no plan for replacement of these workers or consumers in Trump’s executive orders.

Maurice “Mo” Goldman is an immigration attorney based in Arizona and chair of The American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA) Media Advocacy Committee.