Mon Valley immigrants ‘calm’ amid ICE raids
Immigrant liaison Getro Bernabe says nobody is panicking in Charleroi.
Immigrant liaison Getro Bernabe says nobody is panicking in Charleroi.
Members of the local immigrant community are taking things day by day after President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders on immigration and issued edicts to carry out his promises of mass deportations and tightened border security.
During his first week in office, Trump signed 10 executive orders and quotas for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ramp up arrests, including at schools and other sensitive sites once shielded from such actions.
The effects of some actions were felt immediately, while others face legal challenges and may take years to happen, if ever. Still, they have generated worry in immigrant communities.
Local leaders from both IMMIGRANTS •A2
“It’s sad to see what is happening with these raids, but folks here are calm because they have everything in order.”
LULU CISSE sides of the aisle have been vocal on how they feel about the orders, either offering support and vows to cooperate or taking a stand against them.
In Charleroi, Getro Bernabe, the community’s immigrant liaison is trying to encourage everyone to remain calm. Tensions became heightened before Trump took office after he mentioned the borough’s migrant population in a campaign speech.
“They are aware of what is happening, and it’s created some concern, worry,” Bernabe said. “But if you walk through town, you’ll see that everything is calm here. People aren’t panicking.”
He said much of the immigrant community doesn’t have anything to be concerned with.
“They are talking with each other, with their families, and they are asking questions, but I am trying to reassure them and let them know to stay calm and everything is OK.”
Lulu Cisse, a resident who works closely with much of the immigrant community, said they’re not panicking over the increased enforcement.
“People are living their lives, going about their days like they have been,” she said. “It’s sad to see what is happening with these raids, but folks here are calm because they have everything in order.”
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said Monday that his administration would not work with ICE. His comments during an appearance in Harrisburg came amid heightened concerns from area immigrants about ICE raids.
“My administration will not work with ICE,” Gainey said during a PA Press Club event. “We will do whatever’s necessary to make our city more welcoming. That’s what we’re built on.”
Kristen Schneck, an immigration attorney and chair of the Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told TribLive she was directly involved in the cases of two people who were detained by ICE after a raid on a Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood over the weekend.
She declined to provide details about the case, but said she’s been unable to track the pair since they’ve been detained.
“It’s absolutely changed as a result of Trump’s executive orders,” she said of mounting fear of ICE.
Schneck is advising her clients to carry documentation reminding them of their rights in case of an ICE encounter.
Gainey doesn’t believe ICE will fix any immigration problems, only exacerbate fears.
“ICE is not going to end the situation of a failed immigration policy — it’s not going to do it,” the mayor said. “What it’s going to do is create more situations where people feel scared, where people don’t feel safe, where people will do things that they normally wouldn’t do.”
Vanessa Caruso, a Pittsburgh- based immigration attorney, said she’s been fielding calls “all day, every day” from people who are worried about ICE actions.
“The concern is real,” she said, and it’s growing as the Trump administration looks to crack down on immigration.
Catherine Wadhwani, an attorney at Pittsburgh-based Fox Rothschild, said she’s heard chatter about raids at local restaurants, but none of her clients have experienced ICE visits. Some employers who previously were shielded from immigration raids — such as hospitals and houses of worship — are becoming more wary.
“I think people seem to be nervous because they aren’t exactly sure what is happening” as a new administration puts pressure on immigration enforcement officers to round up immigrants, she said.
Though she hasn’t been involved directly with any such incidents, Caruso is taking extra precautions for her clients.
Some of them are required to check in with ICE in person while their immigration proceedings play out in court. Caruso has started accompanying them to those checkins.
She said people should understand their rights when dealing with ICE. Agents can’t enter a home or car without a warrant, and she advised anyone detained by ICE to immediately contact an attorney.
“Even seeing they were doing things or trying to do things over the weekend, it’s just alarming things are happening so fast,” Caruso said, adding that ICE raids have generally not been frequent in the area.
Now there are serious concerns that raids could pick up speed.
“It is scary,” she said. Pittsburgh’s public safety spokesperson, Cara Cruz, said the city was unaware of any ICE raids.
“At this time, the City of Pittsburgh has no evidence of ICE activity occurring within city limits and has not been asked to assist the agency in any way,” Cruz said.
Ramping up enforcement
Trump officials issued quotas to ICE officers to ramp up arrests.
The administration wants to increase the number of arrests from a few hundred per day to at least 1,200 to 1,500, increasing the chances that non-criminals will be detained.
The president has been disappointed with the results of his mass deportation campaign so far, according to four people with knowledge of the briefings.
The quotas were outlined Saturday in a call with senior ICE officials, who were told that each of the agency’s field offices should make 75 arrests per day and managers would be held accountable for missing those targets.
The agency manages a docket of about 7.8 million people who potentially face deportation, but many of them have pending claims in the U.S. immigration system or a form of provisional residency status. ICE’s caseload more than doubled during Joe Biden’s presidency amid record numbers of illegal border crossings.
ICE officers deployed aggressively during Trump’s first week in office, boosting the number of immigrants taken into custody from fewer than 400 last Tuesday to nearly 600 last Friday. The number declined to 286 on Saturday, according to ICE.
Trump’s supporters and others have pointed out that those totals will not yield the “millions” of deportations the president has promised.
The orders significantly increase the chance that officers will engage in more indiscriminate enforcement tactics or face accusations of civil rights violations as they strain to meet quotas, according to current and former ICE officials.
White House “border czar” Tom Homan has said for weeks that ICE would not conduct mass roundups and its officers would prioritize immigrants with criminal records and who are gang members. But the quotas issued this weekend would place ICE officers under more pressure to seize a wider range of potential deportees to avoid reprimand, including immigrants who have not committed crimes.
Homan told ABC News in an interview broadcast Sunday that the administration is “in the beginning stages” of its mass deportation plan, and while public safety threats and national security threats are a priority, “as that aperture opens, there’ll be more arrests nationwide.”
ICE announced in a statement Sunday that agents “began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago,” with help from other federal agencies, including the FBI. Acting Homeland Security secretary Benjamine C. Huffman last week revoked a directive that had essentially barred ICE from arresting immigrants in or around sensitive areas such as schools, hospitals and churches.
That has created a sense of concern in the Charleroi Area School District, which has been preparing for weeks to develop a plan on how to address the matter.
Charleroi Area Superintendent Dr. Ed Zelich first addressed the matter during a school board meeting Jan. 21.
Zelich briefly addressed the board concerning an executive order signed by the president that once again mentioned Charleroi and its immigrant population.
The order was shared with Zelich by the district solicitor ahead of that board meeting, and he wanted to open the discussion with the board and those in the audience in case there were questions or concerns.
After being sworn in as president, one of the first executive orders Trump signed was titled Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program. The order suspends the program starting Jan. 27 until “further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.”
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, every year immigration law requires that executive branch officials review the refugee situation or emergency refugee situation, project the extent of possible participation of the United States in resettling refugees and discuss the reasons for believing that the proposed admission of refugees is justified by humanitarian concerns, grave humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.
Following discussions with cabinet representatives and Congress, a determination is drafted for signature by the president.
The presidential determination establishes the overall admissions levels and regional allocations of all refugees for the upcoming fiscal year.
No refugees may be admitted in the new fiscal year until the presidential determination has been signed.
Annually, processing priorities are established to determine which of the world’s refugees are of special humanitarian concern to the United States.
Fulfilling a processing priority enables a refugee applicant the opportunity to interview with a USCIS officer, but does not guarantee acceptance.
The suspension took effect Monday, at which time the Secretary of Homeland Security was required to suspend decisions on applications for refugee status.
Zelich said the community has become divided, and while that is disheartening he and his leadership team within the school district remain vigilant in doing their jobs and ensuring that children are educated, safe and protected.
“Some of our kids are scared,” Zelich said. “They are worried. So we met with students in the middle and high school this year to talk about those fears and answer any questions they may have.”
Staff members have gone through professional development on how to move forward.
Zelich said it’s important to note what would be required for agents to enter the school.
They must have a judicial warrant issued by the court to be granted access. An administrative warrant, issued by ICE, does not permit them to enter the school unless explicit permission is granted.
“Schools are not public spaces for ICE without proper documentation,” Zelich said.
If ICE requests to interview a student, teachers will consult with building principals, Zelich or legal counsel.
Parents must be notified and the student’s rights must be protected, he added.
Staff members will not be required to disclose a student’s immigration status and have been directed to not answer informal inquiries without proper documentation.
“All people, regardless of immigration status, are protected under the U.S. Constitution,” Zelich said. “And there is a lot of fear right now, but we have a plan here. You know, we’ve never been in this territory before. It’s certainly not something that you are taught to know how to handle. But, we will continue to educate our students, all of our students, regardless of immigration status and make sure their rights are protected.”
Zelich plans to meet with bus drivers and other support staff in the coming days, as they are also worried for students.
“It’s trepidation, nervousness,” he said. “But we will get through this.”
Trib Total Media and the Associated Press contributed to this story.