The dismantling of immigrant and refugee families

Impact of ICE raids felt in local communities, PC(USA) ministries

by Gail Strange | Presbyterian News Service

Elmer Zavala, pastor of the South Louisville/Preston Highway Ministry with Hispanics/Latinos, baptizes the children of families affected by ICE raids. (Photo provided)

LOUISVILLE – The United States is a nation captivated by nonstop news coverage of events surrounding President Donald Trump and his administration’s alleged ties to Russia. Each day presents new headlines that are more intriguing than those of the day before.

But while this breaking news is garnering our attention, the administration is quietly working to enact sweeping changes to programs for families, the elderly and the young.

One policy change already issued is the way U.S. immigration laws are enforced. In one such instance, the Perez Dominguez family was torn apart after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers raided their home.

The Perez Dominguez home is filled with the sights and sounds of youngsters playing outside. The children are between 5 and 10 years old and they cast curious glances at my arrival, a rolling computer bag trailing behind. With puzzled looks on their faces they may be imagining: Who is this person? Is she moving in?

The Rev. Mamie Broadhurst, pastor of Covenant Community Church and a volunteer with the Hispanic/Latino committee of the Mid-Kentucky Presbytery, is there to interpret the conversation between Rosa (not her real name) and me.

Sitting on the sofa in front of an open window, we hear some of the children’s conversation as they played. While not understanding the entire conversation, one word repeated multiple times was “immigrations.” At their young age I knew nothing of immigrations, if I even knew the word. It seemed awful for these children to have to think about such a heavy and grown-up subject.

As Americans grapple with the president’s order on immigrations and refugees, Rosa spoke about the impact the order is having on the lives of her and her family.

She said it was about 5:50 in the morning when someone knocked on the door of the family’s two-bedroom apartment. Rosa’s sister, Beverly (not her real name), went to see who was there. It was a police officer. After a short time, the officer stopped knocking and left. Beverly watched as the police car drove off.

About an hour later, six of the adults, including Rosa, left the apartment to go to work while the remaining two adults and three children continued to sleep. As the six started to drive out of the apartment complex a Louisville police officer detained them for a moment. Immediately after the police officer drove away, a van flashed its lights and blocked them from leaving. It was ICE.

The ICE officers asked where they were from and wanted to see identification. Although they were looking for someone else they threatened to take the six adults into custody.

“You can’t take us; we have kids,” Rosa said. The officers asked where the children were and whom they were with. Rosa answered, “They’re with their dads.”

The officer asked if there were more people in the apartment. At that point all of the family members were brought back to the apartment. ICE officers were looking for two people: the family knew one of them, but the person did not live with them, and the family did not know the other.

After identifying everyone in the apartment, ICE officers insisted they be allowed inside to search for the two people they sought. The officers did not speak Spanish so they called the Louisville police officer back to the apartment to interpret the conversation. Rosa said the police officer told the family if the people the officers sought were not in the house, they would not be arresting anyone.

After the police officer convinced the family that ICE officers would keep their word, the family agreed to let them into the apartment without arrest warrants or a search warrant. The officers didn’t find the two people they were seeking, but they learned that one of the men they sought was the brother of Rosa’s husband.

The ICE officers demanded that Rosa’s husband tell them where his brother was. When he couldn’t, they arrested her husband. Rosa said the Louisville police officer told the family they would be deported if they didn’t cooperate with ICE. He also told them they had no rights to anything, Rosa said.

At that moment, the family’s structure totally changed. Three of the 11 family members were children born in the U.S. Six of the family members were immediately arrested. ICE arrested Rosa’s brother-in-law, her brother, her husband and a cousin.

Her brother, who had previously lived for six years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and had previously been deported, was denied an attorney and deported under the expedited deportation law.

His wife, who was in the U.S. on an expired visa, was pressed to sign deportation papers. She is currently in the process of being deported to Mexico. Rosa’s sister Beverly willingly returned to Mexico with her U.S.-born toddler son to be with her husband so their family can be together.

Three members of the Perez Dominguez family were released after paying nearly $30,000 in bail. Rosa’s brother is awaiting an August court date to learn his fate. She says right now the family is in “legal limbo.” And no matter what happens, they must repay the money they borrowed for bail.

The legal process for entering the U.S. is lengthy and complex and advocates say immigrants come to this country for a variety of reasons. Some come for political asylum, others to escape violence and the threat of death, and still more come to escape extreme poverty due to the lack of jobs. But the one common denominator for immigrants and refugees arriving in the United States of America, even if it means coming without documentation, is a better quality of life for the family.

Becca O’Neill, an immigration attorney with Kentucky Refugee Ministries, spoke about the recent changes in our immigration policy and specifically what U.S. citizens can do to address the situation.

“Our immigration system is broken,” she said. “We need to let people in positions of power know that we need to do something to make a change.”

She suggests people get involved with organizations that support immigrants. In Louisville, one organization helping immigrants is La Casita Center. The organization encourages social justice, solidarity and accompaniment of the most vulnerable, and promotion of health and healing among new immigrant Hispanic/Latino families.

“As Presbyterians, we can get to know these individuals to put a human face to the issue and the statistics, and learn about hard-working families that are being ripped apart,” Broadhurst said.

As for Rosa, she says with tears running down her face, “I want my family reunited. It’s unjust and unfair that we are paying for mistakes that others have made.

“We dreamed of having a better life for our children and our family here in this country. And now, after all we went through to get here, our dreams will not be realized.”