Immediately after being sworn in, President Trump began signing executive orders to “secure the border” and “deport criminal aliens,” seemingly delivering on his promises of mass deportation.
However, this is not the first time in the recent past that mass deportation campaigns have happened.
President Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act , a bill that worked to strengthen America’s agenda against the war on crime.
IIRIRA made it significantly easier to deport immigrants and increased the number of immigrants that had qualified for deportation, mandatory detentions and new biometric technology was developed to increase state surveillance.
The bill also increased federal spending for the Immigration and Naturalization Services, –– – the current equivalent of the Department of Homeland Security ––- reallocated certain immigration enforcement duties to local personnel and increased spending to improve border security.
The Emerald reached out to Guadalupe Quinn, the immigrant rights advocacy program coordinator at Amigos MSC, who shared an INS raid report conducted by the Migra Raid Task Force in Lane County.
The report included personal testimonies, letters, economic costs and documented cases of human rights abuses by the INS.
Some of the cases displayed in the report showed “attempts to break the spirit of detained workers,” often leaving detainee’s with permanent trauma. Some were also forced to sign voluntary detention forms, not all of which were translated.
“The agents do not have to treat us like animals,” a detainee said to researchers. The detainees also described INS officers as using excessive force when tightening detainees’ handcuffs telling them, “you people have no rights.”
Many of the documented cases detailing violations included physiological, physical and verbal abuse, the denial of due process, illegal seizures and unlawful cooperation with local law enforcement.
“The agents always yelled at us like they were very mad and would not allow us or the women to go to the bathroom,” a detainee mentioned in the report.
After the raid, there was a documented 50-75% drop in school attendance among Latino children, showing one of the many social impacts on the community.
Although Oregon has been declared a sanctuary state, Eugene has not yet committed to declaring itself a sanctuary city. Surrounding cities that haven’t declared themselves as sanctuary cities have unlawfully cooperated with local law enforcement authorities on immigration investigations.
The Migra Raid Task Force recommended multiple initiatives, including the initiation of education programs for local law enforcement involved.
Professor Katrina Kilgren, UO immigration law professor and independent immigration attorney, notes that the DHS has been sued many times in recent years over undignified conditions within ICE detention facilities. A 2019 District Court ruled that ICE must provide toothbrushes, blankets and private hygienic facilities.
“I do believe that both ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (Customs and Border Protection) in that regard, have not done enough to rectify those situations. I think they still have really harsh conditions that are disrespectful to human dignity.” Kilgren continues, “I think they are still jails and the worst types of jails.”
Kilgren also emphasizes the secrecy surrounding ICE and how ICE doesn’t give information to a detainee’s family immediately, often taking over a day for communication to family; “I worked with a detained client recently, who on an inconsistent schedule, could only call me for two minutes … I think that aspect is really disturbing to me, that it’s really hard to find people.”
The issues around transparency were listed in the task force as well. Families deserve to know where their loved ones are.
There is urgency within the Lane County community to adopt better transparency policies and cultural competency training for ICE and CBP, and tangible action should reflect that.
Kilgren said, “I think (Trump’s deportation plans) have created some resilience, recommitment to community-based organizing and activism … people in the targeted community want you to know that they are not just afraid.”
