As we all know, ever since the inauguration of our new president, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been stricter than ever before. President Trump has made it very clear that it was part of his plan to start mass deportations immediately once elected. Everyone anticipated it and did what they could in preparation, but unfortunately there hasn’t been much we could do to stop it. Many people have quit their jobs out of fear of ICE showing up. But even then, there have still been reports of officers showing up at peoples houses, breaking and entering without a warrant to deport undocumented people.
Many people feel so intimidated and threatened by ICE that it doesn’t occur to them that they have rights. Everyone, with or without citizenship or documentation has the right to defend themselves. No one, even an officer has the right to enter anyone’s private property without physically showing them a warrant. Also, there is no legal obligation to answer any questions, it doesn’t matter what any ICE officer asks, we have the right to remain silent and resist harassment. ICE has been around for a very long time, and unfortunately has deported people from all over the world back to their home countries, ignoring their reason for coming and how many years they’ve lived here. Many people have lived in fear of one day getting arrested by ICE, but it’s never been worse.
Undocumented immigrants, specifically latinos, have had to be more cautious than ever. Seattle has always been a safe place with large immigrant communities. But because of its reputation it has now been one of the biggest targets in the whole country, along with other big cities such as Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, and Denver. There have been reports of ICE trucks in front of high schools and middle schools, waiting for students to come out to question them. A student from our school, who prefers to remain anonymous, stated, “A few weeks ago I was out at lunch and I saw a couple ICE trucks in front of city hall, just a couple blocks from our school.” Thankfully, our school may be public property, but officers still aren’t allowed to enter and question students without a warrant.
Nevertheless, it’s still horrifying that this issue is so local, these officers were just blocks away from the place we are legally obligated to go to every day. Another student who also prefers to remain anonymous, stated “Last month I saw immigration officers in the Marshalls by Aurora Ave.” That’s just one example of many times when officers have been in stores that have a lot of Latino customers. Since those stores are public spaces, no one can stop them from being there or waiting outside for people to come out to question them. The best anyone can do is to remember that there is no obligation to answer to these officers. If you are a citizen, please spread awareness to anyone who may not have documentation and make sure they are aware of how local this issue has become, and how to prevent any further harassment.
