The Trump administration has temporarily postponed plans to deport “millions” of undocumented immigrants, but that hasn’t calmed fears within Colorado’s immigrant community.
On Monday, the office for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition received an unusually high volume of calls. Gladis Iberra said many came from distressed families concerned about possible ICE checkpoints and what to do if ICE agents showed up at their house — cases in which the operators reminded them of their legal rights.
“We want them to make sure that if there’s a warrant for that person’s arrest, that the warrant is a judicial warrant, signed by a judge,” she said.
Iberra said business owners in at least one of the immigrant communities where she works said they’d seen fewer customers, as people are choosing to stay home.
“People are not even wanting to go to the grocery store because they’re hearing that (a checkpoint) is happening close to the grocery store,” she said.
Iberra helps run the Colorado Rapid Response Network, a statewide hotline run by a system of local organizations and volunteers. The hotline receives tips about potential ICE activity and then works to confirm it. The system helps stop the spread of misinformation and makes individuals aware of areas to avoid in the case of an event. As of Monday, Iberra said that the network has not identified any raids happening in Colorado.
According to the Miami Herald, Denver will be one of 10 cities targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in raids that have been postponed for two weeks, according to a tweet made by Trump on Saturday.
Copyright 2019 KUNC
