With 68 days to go until President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, dozens of immigrant rights groups are mobilizing to protect undocumented individuals if the former president carries through on his threats of mass deportation.
Trump has repeatedly said he plans to carry out the largest deportation effort in U.S. history and has appointed several anti-immigrant Cabinet members since winning last week’s election.
“We take President-elect Trump at his word that efforts to actualize mass detention and deportations are coming, and that they will be sweeping and indiscriminate,” Advancing Universal Representation Institute Director Shayne Kessler said Wednesday during a briefing about immigrant rights groups’ priorities as a movement to fight Trump’s agenda.
“Between the heightened immigration enforcement of his first presidency and the individuals being considered for Cabinet positions now, we understand the far-reaching policy changes that lie ahead,” said Kessler, who’s group is working to strengthen its network of governments, legal service providers and advocates that provide free legal services for immigrants facing deportation.
AURI is one of dozens of immigrant rights groups that are joining forces now to educate undocumented individuals, shore up resources and lobby elected officials for protections as they brace for the worst. About 11 million undocumented individuals are estimated to live in the United States.
“This moment requires a fundamental pivot and a new way of politics moving forward,” Greisa Martinez Rosas said. The executive director of United We Dream Action — the largest network of immigrant young people in the United States — is calling on elected officials to reject Trump’s deportation plans and stand up for immigrants.
While the group is working to organize students, to push workplaces to put protections in place for undocumented workers and to engage with mayors and governors nationwide, it is also lobbying the Biden administration to do everything within its last two months of power to enact Temporary Protected Status so undocumented immigrants can live and work in the United States if it's unsafe for them to return to their countries of origin.
The group is also calling on Biden to ensure that people held in detention centers are given due process. About 37,000 people are currently being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, according to the agency.
“There’s cause to fear,” said Martinez Rosas, an undocumented immigrant who was speaking while workers modified her door so she can see if ICE officials stop by. “The reality of this moment is that we’re not alone. This moment will require each of us to step into our courage.”
Martinez Rosas says she is currently protected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which allows children who were illegally brought into the U.S. by their parents to legally work in the U.S. The law took effect in 2012 during the Obama administration. Trump attempted to end it during his first term in office.
“We call on faith communities, on labor, on people of color, LGBTQ+, women’s groups, environmental protection groups to stand with us,” undocumented immigrant and Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights LA Executive Affairs Director Areli Hernandez said. “Immigrants will be the first to be targeted, but we fear we will not be the last.”
Hernandez said her group is working to educate undocumented immigrants about their rights, including the right to remain silent if they are stopped and asked about their immigration status.
“In [Trump’s] last administration, we saw sweeps in our communities. We witnessed our families coming to CHIRLA and asking for resources because their dad, their mom, even abuelitas were getting picked up,” Hernandez said. “That happened. We witnessed it. It’s real.”