Children At Risk urges resolve in face of Trump’s immigration crackdown

Children At Risk, the non-partisan research and advocacy nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of Texas children, this week urged solidarity, preparation and resolve in the face of Trump’s executive orders on immigration.

As promised, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on his first day in office concerning the nation’s immigration system and other matters.

During an online Facebook forum on Tuesday, Children At Risk sought to reassure people about the orders, particularly the one that rescinded a Biden-era policy that protected certain areas, such as churches, schools and hospitals.

The order included a directive to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE agents authority to take enforcement actions in these spaces using “common sense.”

“Immigration policy in America is Texas policy in many ways. (Trump’s orders) have many of us concerned. I get that many Americans are worried about immigration, and many are supportive of the idea that maybe we need to deport those immigrants that have committed criminal activities,” Robert Sanborn, Children At Risk CEO, said at the outset.

“But I think, also, most Americans really care about kids and don’t want to traumatize children, and they don’t want us to be the villain here. This whole idea of family separation, this whole idea of them being separated from their families and traumatized is not something that most Americans want. As we talk about immigration policy, we want people to be concerned about children’s policy as well. When we talk about children, immigrant children, Latino children, these are children at risk.” Sanborn said.

Anne Chandler, executive director in Austin of C@R, as the organization refers to itself, said people should prepare themselves for anything that might come.

“There’s a lot you can do right now. Preparation is key. …We know there’s ways to mitigate risk. We know there’s ways we can prepare for apprehensions. There are ways we can prepare for things that we’re going to see that I think will intentionally look very big, very ugly and very scary,” Chandler said, urging people to adopt a “ready, act, stay” attitude.

“For individuals that are terrified about one day being arrested, detained and deported and what may happen to children who may be citizens or legal permanent residents, …Get yourself equipped, get yourself an attorney and get paperwork in place. I think with preparation and resolve, we don’t have to go into a panic mode, we can just do what we can to protect one another,” she said.

Jessica Cisneros, Texas Immigration Law Council managing attorney in Laredo, said to make sure you’re getting accurate information.

“Right now my organization, and I know many other organizations, are trying to parse through all of the information that was given to us. That’s why it’s so important for people to make sure the information they’re getting is from a trusted resource. There is so much misinformation out there. Unfortunately, there’s folks out there that want to take advantage of immigrants,” she said.

Chandler said the law is on the side of students, and pretty strongly.

“So, for quite awhile we have had measures in place that prohibit any officer from the Department of Homeland Security from entering places like churches, schools, and doing any kind of enforcement activity. In a very loud way, we heard the administration remove that policy. What does it mean? It does not mean that we should not send our children to school. It does not mean that tomorrow we are going to see ICE officers in our schools making arrests. It does not mean any of that. It does mean that that is no longer a no-go zone,” Chandler said.

Dylan Corbett, executive director of the HOPE Border Institute in El Paso, said Trump’s executive orders mark the opening salvo in his promised campaign of mass deportations.

“All these actions that we’ve seen, the executive orders and the policy changes, they strike at the core of our identity as a welcoming community in El Paso. They strike at of our identity as a community that values family,” he said. “We need reform. We do. But none of these actions will fix our system. They won’t maintain our commitment to refugees and asylum seekers. They won’t protect our economy. They won’t keep our local community safe. They won’t help our border communities. They won’t help our state. They won’t help our country.”

The post Children At Risk urges resolve in face of Trump’s immigration crackdown appeared first on MyRGV.com.