Beginning January 26, various Georgians were arrested by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in public places such as schools and shopping centers. ICE was formed March 2003 for the purpose of protecting public safety and national security by enforcing various laws such as immigration, trade, customs and border control. Daily, ICE works to arrest criminals, seize assets, identify victims of human trafficking and child exploitation, protect businesses and manage detention. ICE mainly controls immigrants and attempts to remove undocumented individuals from the U.S.
This organization impacts undocumented individuals immensely as ICE detains them and removes them from the U.S. through deportation, separating people from their families. Although they only target undocumented immigrants, recently all immigrants live in constant fear due to the possibility of deportation, even with the correct paperwork. One of President Donald Trump’s goals for his term, targeting and capturing undocumented immigrants, began six days after he officially took office January 20. Trump ordered immigration enforcement to sweep through major U.S. cities including Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, New York City and Phoenix, to find and arrest immigrants involved in crime.
Starting in Chicago, ICE was spotted raiding various highly populated cities to find immigrants with criminal records; they did so by walking up to suspects that ICE deemed as questionable and further investigating them. Released footage showed officers waiting in front of international markets and well-known areas where immigrants gather in an attempt to capture and detain them. Individuals all across media platforms questioned this method as specific ethnicities, such as Hispanics and Middle Easterners, were targeted at a higher rate than immigrants who came from countries such as Germany or the United Kingdom. The average number of immigrants detained increased significantly to 753 individuals a day, but 47% of those immigrants never committed crimes. Immigration without documentation only results in civil offenses, but recently this offense has led to criminal charges due to Trump’s official policy.
“There is a lot of concern and anxiety in our [Latino] community. That is part of the intent of the [Trump] administration, is to, unfortunately, spread fear and terrorize our community. The administration cannot be trusted to tell us the truth. They have lied to us about what they are doing right now. Being in the country is not a criminal violation. It is a civil violation — and there is a distinction in front of the law,” Latino advocacy organizer for Galeo Jerry Gonzalez said.
Immigrants living in Georgia began to worry following the first arrests January 26, and since have expressed their concerns for themselves and their families. Numerous groups have communicated their worries as various adults spoke out and mentioned that they immigrated without documents during their childhood and could not control their families’ illicit ways of immigration. ICE workers can now enter schools as of January 21, when the Department of Homeland Security announced a new policy that allows arrests and searches in sensitive areas, to search for undocumented students. ICE operations worry parents about their children’s future since ICE has captured numerous parents in Georgia including a mother of five, leaving the children parentless and in need of a substitute guardian.
“Having grown up in a family full of immigrants who came here seeking nothing but a better life, seeing what is happening is devastating. People are being ripped apart from their families with a false claim of justice, if the American ideal of justice is families crying, children left alone and parents scared they will have to leave their kids, then maybe we are for once reaching it. It is sad seeing my peers going through every day carrying the weight of this, no teenagers should be worrying about the very real possibility of being left alone to care for not just themselves but oftentimes siblings as well. Children are being sent to a country they have never known past pictures and stories. Beyond being sad, I’m enraged by the ignorance I see every day, by how people who have never and will never experience these worries can speak from a place of privilege and pass judgment,” magnet junior Sophie Salomon said.
These recent ICE raids have led attorneys to debate the legality of ICE and their current tactics. Various news sources and interviews show that Democrat attorneys and government workers have disagreed with ICE’s operations, while Republicans commonly agree that undocumented immigrants should return back to their country. While ICE remains in these various cities, documented and undocumented immigrants have attempted to stay in their homes and out of trouble. ICE plans to continue spreading its operations across popular cities in the U.S. to detain and deport other undocumented immigrants.