National and Local Voices Assess Implications of Initial Immigration Enforcement Under Trump

Washington, DC — At a virtual event and discussion held earlier today, key national and local voices assessed the scope, fears and implications of President Trump’s promised largest deportation operation in history and related policy announcements and ICE enforcement actions. The discussion was the next installment of America’s Voice’s weekly Friday “Beyond the Immigration Headlines” virtual event series.

Greg Chen, Senior Director of Government Relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), took stock of the volume of related Trump policy announcements and stated: “The President is sowing chaos with orders and memos that actually erode public safety and are dismantling the federal immigration system. Chaos is not what Americans want. American families and businesses want a system that is orderly, fair and efficient. The President cannot just halt programs that he doesn’t agree with like last week’s stop work order on DOJ programs that help our immigration court system work more efficiently and fairly. Congress controls the power of the purse – not the President. Sowing fear – by allowing ICE to raid churches, schools, and courthouses, and abruptly ending lawful pathways – is damaging American families, businesses, and communities.”

Noel Candelaria, Secretary-Treasurer of the National Education Association (NEA), discussed how immigration fears and the removal of sensitive locations enforcement guidance are impacting K-12 schools, noting: “As educators, we have accepted the sacred responsibility to protect students—every single student, regardless of their immigration status—and to protect families and communities. We have a professional and moral responsibility to keep our students safe, especially if, and when, Trump sends ICE into our communities,” said NEA Secretary-Treasurer Noel Candelaria. “More importantly, our job is to provide an education that inspires their natural curiosity, imagination, and love of learning. We are growing tomorrow’s inventors, thinkers, artists, leaders, and, yes, educators. We are fully committed to using the power and strength of the largest labor union in the country to ensure every public school is a safe space for every student, and to uphold the constitutionally protected right of all students to access a public education.”

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera in Milwaukee, WI, updated attendees on how the community is responding to the renewed threat of deportation and family separation and how the community is coming together to resist: “Our community is experiencing heightened fear and uncertainty due to Trump’s xenophobic executive orders and the spread of misinformation. Yet, we are also witnessing a renewed determination to organize locally in schools and communities to expand ongoing Know Your Right training, join local Rapid Response teams, organize for strike actions on May 1 or as needed, and join events or campaigns in solidarity with immigrant workers and their families. This commitment and scaled-up local organizing has the power to not just resist but prevail against the forces of hate, cruelty, and division.”

Pedro Trujillo, Organizing Director at CHIRLA (The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights) provided a Los Angeles-area perspective on local enforcement in California, stating: “Despite the psychological warfare and the cruelty coming from the Trump Administration, we are preparing and empowering our community to stay. We are disseminating information, making resources available, and coordinating with as many networks and institutions as possible to ensure the community knows they are not alone. We have been here before and we will get through this together.”

Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice served as moderator and said: “”We continue to see how chaotic, costly and cruel the Trump immigration agenda is. The White House has made clear that anyone in this country without legal status is now considered a ‘criminal’ – clearing the way for indiscriminate targeting of millions of hard-working people who are essential to our economy and our local communities and affecting not only immigrant families but our entire social structure. This fear and chaos isn’t an unintentional byproduct – it’s unfortunately the point, no matter the cost to our communities, families, and our economy.”