Lorie Shaull
In recent weeks, one part of the national conversation on immigration has shot to the top of headlines: The Trump administration's zero-tolerance approach that calls for prosecuting every adult accused of illegally crossing into the country, and its concurrent policy of separating them from their children.
The idea to separate parents and children was floated by hardliners while Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama were in office, but neither were willing to implement it, according to the New York Times. In practice, it's turned out really, really bad—to the point where the administration has had to earnestly ward off accusations of acting like Nazis who removed children from parents by lying that they were being taken to bathe.
Under Trump, the policy has generated widespread outrage among politically frustrated liberals wondering what more they can do than rant online. Images of child internment camps have pissed a lot of people off, though at least some of them were from the Obama years.
This energy was the impetus for an educational event taking place Wednesday evening, says Allegra Love, director of the Santa Fe Dreamers project and an immigration attorney. Her target demographic is people freshly horrified by the separation policy; immigrants and their supporters who weathered record deportations in the Obama years and have girded for Trump's assault are likely already well-informed.
"There's a lot of energy and a lot of misinformation," Love says about the zero-tolerance policy. "This is a really complicated issue. It's not morally complicated, but it is factually complicated."
Love sees this moment as an opportunity to teach people about the draconian foundations on which Trump's border policy is building, while also making clear that the federal government is taking certain unprecedented steps. And people should be talking about more than just kids, she believes.
"It's an American institution of separating immigrant families, and it's not simply a Trump thing," Love says. "Part of what we have to do is stop just talking about kids in these internment camp. It can't be the only tipping point we have for understanding this crisis. … You can use your rage about the separation of children to pivot around to broader [immigration] issues, but if you just focus on that, you're missing the point."
SFR reported on Immigration and Customs Enforcement audits on Santa Fe businesses that swept through the city in the spring. At the time, ICE said it had served notices to 63 businesses in New Mexico, and the Albuquerque Regional office says at least 23 people in this state and West Texas were detained during the sweep. ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa in Albuquerque tells SFR the agency currently has no further updates about enforcement actions in the state.
One of the businesses targeted for an audit was Santa Fe Tree Farm in the Agua Fría traditional historic community. The business' owner, Chevo Serna, told SFR he was concerned he was at risk for deportation. He didn't answer his cell phone when SFR called, but secretary Bianca Herrera says Monday nobody at the business has been detained or prosecuted for employing undocumented workers.
"They went through paperwork and they just told us basically what we filled out was wrong and that was pretty much it," Herrera tells SFR. "It was just kind of like a warning."
Others in the city are more reluctant to talk about their experiences with ICE on the record. The workplace audits have slowed, but advocates tell SFR that agents are still doing their typical thing for individuals: Surprising people who they suspect are undocumented in their homes, at their places of work, inside the courthouse, after probation appointments.
"Enforcement in general against individuals [not businesses] has continued at the same high levels we've seen over the last few months," says Olsi Vrapi, an immigration attorney in Albuquerque who has clients in Santa Fe. "We haven't seen anything slow down."
Love agrees.
"ICE is all over this town, they're all over this town," Love says, "the story has been unfolding in our community for a long time, and I want to invite people to come and get the whole picture."
Family Separation on the Border: An Evening of Education
5:30 pm Wednesday June 20. Free. First Christian Church, 645 Webber St.,
info@santafedreamersproject.org
