Since Donald Trump took office and promised to order mass deportations of immigrants, many people in the Bay Area have been living in fear.
There are undocumented immigrants who fear they will be separated from family, friends and jobs. Their family members, even if they are here legally or on temporary status, are worried about how this may affect them. There are children who fear their parents may be deported and leave them behind. There are children who aren’t at risk of being deported but worry that their friend who they have known since kindergarten may be forced out of the country.
Now many of them are turning to Sara Fain for help. She’s the directing attorney for the Fremont office of the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA), where she provides immigration legal service to low-income people. IIBA is a nonprofit that has been offering free or low-cost immigration legal services, education and civic engagement since 1918.
Fain, who specializes in affirmative humanitarian and family-based cases, says she’s been spending a lot of time recently trying to quell people’s fears.
She spoke with Bay Area Parent about how those in the community can assist, how to talk to kids about threats of mass deportations and what families with no or mixed immigration status can expect.
Has your office been busy lately?
It has been a deluge of concerned people and family members and friends and neighbors calling and dropping in and emailing all our offices. People are scared. There is so much rhetoric. People live in the shadows when they don’t have immigration status to begin with. Then when they turn on the news and that’s all they talk about, it paralyzes people. They need advice and support, and we want to be there.
You can say you want mass deportations, but we know there’s at least 10 million people living in this country without immigration status. If the president takes away status from some people, it could become larger. We don’t have the infrastructure or resources to execute all of those wishes. But they can make people think they are coming for them, and it’s that fear that prevents people from moving on with their daily life.
Should they be scared?
No, I don’t want people to live in fear. I understand there is always a risk. If you have a green card or are a U.S. citizen, you are safe. If you have temporary status, you are safe and you can look for ways to make it permanent. People need to get up and take care of their kids and go to school and go to work and celebrate things with their family.
I take comfort in being able to do this kind of work in the Bay Area. Our values are about keeping families together and about having compassion for our neighbors and supporting our community. Our local and state governments have taken actions on that. We’ve passed laws that are more protective of immigrants.
Taking to Kids
Do you have advice on how to help kids understand what’s going on?
As a mother, I can say I think each child is different and may react differently with the same information, and sometimes kids don’t need all the information or just need the information that is age appropriate.
If it were my child, I’d try to maintain normalcy and routine in my life. But as a mom, I recognize I can’t possibly know what someone else is experiencing or how best to parent their child. Lots of schools have mental health resources for students, and departments that serve immigrant families.
I would encourage students expressing fear to seek out these services and know that they are supported by their community. Most importantly, the risk for so many immigrants in the Bay Area is very low and they don’t need to live in fear. I’ve worked with clients as adults who express how deeply traumatized they were in their childhood just from the fear of deportation, even though they had no contact with immigration enforcement.
How can people who are not at risk help those who don’t have permanent immigration status?
A lot of people want to apply for status, but the process is really expensive and long. If you have connections or if you can financially support someone, maybe offer to help. Often people don’t want to ask for help and application fees are expensive.
We can also tell the leaders of our communities to keep immigrants safe.
Also, making people feel like you hear them and see them and want to stand up for them.
Schools can help by providing a forum for immigrant families to connect and have a safe space to go to learn about resources.
President Trump has said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents can now go to schools and churches. What should a school administrator do if ICE comes on campus?
The school can show compassion and empathy to their students who might have a mixed-status family or who might all be immigrants and feeling the risk and give them an opportunity to know about their rights.
On occasion if someone from law enforcement comes to a school and asks for access, the school should know who that person is. A lot of fear has come from schools saying it’s ICE but it’s not ICE. First identify that it is ICE. They would only be able to enter that school or parts of that school if they had a warrant for someone’s arrest at that school.
The rules are the same if you’re at home. You don’t have to let them in if they don’t have a warrant. They almost never have a warrant. They must have a warrant signed by a judge that names someone residing there, working there or studying there. I have not heard of one incident where ICE had a valid warrant to detain someone at a school.
What are the “red cards” that are being given to those at risk of being deported?
They are distributed by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. On one side, it will tell you what you should do, and it’s in different languages. It says, “Don’t say anything. You don’t have to speak to them. Don’t give them any documents. Don’t sign anything. Don’t open your door. Give them this card.” On the other side of the card, it says: “I am asserting my right under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution against unreasonable search and seizures. I do not authorize you to enter my home. I will maintain my right to remain silent.”
What can be people do if they are undocumented, and they want to try to become a citizen?
The law is complicated and limiting. For a lot of people who have been here many years without status, it’s not due to lack of trying or lack of interest. It’s almost always due to ineligibility under the law. If you have not taken action and you think you might qualify, you can do an immigration consultation. We work with a lot of people who have DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). It allows kids who have been brought here before the age of 15 to get deferred action and a work permit. We have thousands of DACA clients. We have watched these people grow up. Now they are getting degrees. They are professionals. They are getting married. They are having children. But they are still on this temporary path. If you come to an attorney, we will review your history.
Resources
Carecen SF. Responds to the needs, rights and aspirations of Latino, people who migrate and under-resourced families in the San Francisco Bay Area. It offers legal services, a youth program, a family-wellness program and a health promotion program.
Immigration Advocates Network. Offers an immigration legal services directory. immigrationadvocates.org/legaldirectory
Immigration Institute of the Bay Area. A nonprofit offering free or low-cost immigration legal services, education and civic engagement.
Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Works with and educates immigrants, the community and the legal sector to improve immigration law and policy, and inform people of their rights.
La Raza Community Resource Center. Provides free and low-cost legal services and a family-resource center in San Francisco.