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Bay Area immigrant communities feeling fearful amid deportation rhetoric

Raid raises fears over immigration crackdown in Bay Area. What does the data show?
Raid raises fears over immigration crackdown in Bay Area. What does the data show? 05:36

A week after President Donald Trump's inauguration, arrests of immigrants bound for deportation are increasing. But are the actions, so far, really matching the level of fear in the community?  

Fear has always been an effective motivator and George Galvis, co-founder of the Oakland social justice group CURYJ, said the messages from the White House about immigration are having their effect.

"What we're feeling, what we're hearing, is a sense of fear, a climate of anxiety," said Galvis.  "Parents are scared to drop off their children to school.  People are scared to even access healthcare. We're hearing about how our farmworkers here in California are scared to report to work, and that crops are not necessarily getting picked. And we should anticipate a shortage of food.  We should expect a rise in food costs."

That's a lot for all of us to fear. But are the ICE raids really happening? The answer is yes, but not as much as some might think.  On Sunday, ICE reported arresting nearly 1,000 people across the country, up from the nearly 600 picked up on Friday.  That would certainly be reason for concern for undocumented immigrants, but, ironically, the data shows that more people were deported under Presidents Obama and Biden than during the first Trump administration.  

However, this time, Galvis thinks things may just be getting started, and he sees a difference.

"I do think we are going to see increases," he said. "But I think it's really more of the climate of xenophobia, of intolerance, of hate, that's going to create a perpetuation of hate crimes towards people who are perceived to be 'other-ized.'"

And after President Trump rescinded a policy prohibiting ICE arrests at schools, it brought the fear to the classroom, as well.

"This talk, these threats, really have really created anxiety amongst our students, families, community members and our staff," said Dr. Adam Clark, superintendent of the Mt Diablo Unified School District in the East Bay.

 He said no arrests have been attempted at any of its campuses, and they don't have hard data showing how many students may be out of school because of the fear. But he said the fear does exist, and he's doing what he can to make people aware of their policies.

"Any officer from any department cannot just walk onto our campuses, flash a badge or give a card and expect to have access to students. We would need some sort of official document, specifically a signed warrant from a judge even to start the conversation," said Dr. Clark. "So, I'm really trying to calm fears and calm anxieties by really just going back to the very strict and clear policies and protocols that we already have in place."

In the Bay Area, there have already been reports of ICE interactions that turned out to be false.  So, even though Galvis is concerned about where the enforcement might be going, he said it's important not to fan the flames of fear.

"We're trying to promote some restraint," Galvis said.  "Don't promote something unless it's actually been confirmed. What we'd like to see is actual video documentation, photo documentation, receipts, and really some confirmation from several sources, before it's something that we're sharing."

President Trump promised deportations in his first term, but those didn't turn out to be as extensive as people expected. Now that he's doubling down on the rhetoric, the question is, how much will his words be put into action.

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