Queens immigrants and activists prepare for potential ICE raids
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ICE has not increased enforcement on Roosevelt Avenue in Corona since President Donald Trump announced immigration raids in major U.S. cities. Eagle photo by Phineas Rueckert
By Phineas Rueckert
Rafael, a trained aviation technician, moved to Queens from Mexico City five years ago. He left Mexico because he was unable to find work there. “I was let down by my country,” he told the Eagle Monday.
After paying a “coyote,” or smuggler, to bring him across the border, he made his way to New York City along with a friend who had family in Queens. He now works in construction, but was in between jobs, he said. He is an undocumented immigrant and declined to share his last name because of his unauthorized status.
Rafael is one of more than 180,000 undocumented immigrants who live in Queens — the highest number in New York City, according to a 2018 report from the Mayor’s Office. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly accelerates raids in immigrant communities across the country, he and others like him have to take “precautions” to avoid arrest, Rafael said.
“People aren’t scared [about ICE],” Rafael said in Spanish. “People are more scared that they can’t do the things that they want to do [in their everyday lives].”
So far, no immigration raids have taken place in Queens since President Donald Trump announced that ICE would begin targeted raids against immigrants, including families, in major U.S. cities. ICE’s attempted raids in other boroughs, including Brooklyn, have fostered fear among immigrant communities and in some cases compelled noncitizens to stay indoors to protect themselves, said Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, who represents Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights.
“It’s interesting because the day that the raids [were] supposed to start [was] the same day that our community has probably two of our biggest cultural events that felt much emptier this year than in years past,” Cruz told the Eagle, referring to the 10th Annual Colombian Flower Festival in Jackson Heights and the Festival Independencia Orgullo Colombiano in Jamaica.
“I have to believe that people are taking these threats seriously, that people are scared,” Cruz said. “This happens to be the district with the highest number of undocumented immigrants in the entire state and so that’s concerning.”
Cruz, whose family fled Colombia when she was a child, also said that she received a death threat after speaking at a rally against ICE this past weekend in Jackson Heights.
Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, who represents Corona and Elmhurst, said immigrants in her district are fearful of ICE raids. Eagle photo by Phineas Rueckert
A sense of fear and alienation is also being felt among some U.S. citizens.
Another Corona resident, who goes by Carlitos, told the Eagle that though he is a naturalized U.S. citizen, he carries his documents in his left pocket at all times because he doesn’t want “any trouble” from police or immigration agents.
“People are always worrying,” he said.
On Sunday, immigrants’ rights activists held a rally against ICE in Jackson Heights that was attended by “more than two dozen” protesters, the Daily News reported. In Manhattan, Council Speaker Corey Johnson and a number of other officials gathered at Battery Park Castle Clinton National Monument to denounce ICE activity in New York City.
“These are dark times for our country, and I want to tell all those who are living in fear right now because of the actions of the Trump administration: your city and I have your back,” Johnson said in a statement.
An ICE spokesperson said that it “will not offer specific details related to enforcement operations.”
“As always, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,” the ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
Cruz said that her office has been working to inform undocumented immigrants, as well as friends, families and neighbors who may live with or know undocumented people, of their rights in advance of potential ICE activity in Queens.
Her office has advised community members not to open their doors to ICE or police agents without a judicial warrant and not to speak to authorities without a lawyer present.
“There’s not much we can do to stop the raids,” Cruz said. “That’s the reality of what we’re living in, so all we can do is prepare.”
