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President Trump is moving fast to make good on his promise to deport migrants in the country illegally, and that's kicked immigration legal centers into high gear. Many are teaching migrants how to prepare for getting detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. NPR's Arezou Rezvani reports.
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER #1: (Speaking Spanish).
AREZOU REZVANI, BYLINE: There's often a long line outside the nonprofit TODEC Legal Center these days, here in the small southern California town of Perris in Riverside County.
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER #1: Were you born here?
REZVANI: More than a couple dozen men, women, children and seniors, many of them without legal status or part of mixed-status families, sign in for a Know Your Rights session.
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER #2: (Speaking Spanish).
REZVANI: Inside, a legal center volunteer walks them through what to do if federal ICE agents come for them anywhere, like at work...
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER #2: (Speaking Spanish).
REZVANI: ...Or in the streets...
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER #2: (Speaking Spanish).
REZVANI: ...Or at their homes.
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER #2: (Speaking Spanish).
REZVANI: Together, they practice what to say if agents try entering without a court-ordered warrant.
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER #2: You may not enter. Please leave.
REZVANI: You may not enter. Please leave.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: You may not enter. Please leave.
UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER #2: OK?
REZVANI: They go over documents to gather in case children or family members are left behind. Many here are watching the Trump administration's immigration crackdown - that White House officials claim targets mainly people in the country illegally with criminal records - wondering if they may get swept up in it all. Now, these fears aren't totally new. There were what many called mass deportations under former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, who was dubbed the deporter-in-chief by activists for deporting more people than any other president, including Trump. What is new, says Luz Gallegos, executive director of TODEC Legal Center, is the rhetoric and the publicity around the deportations this time.
LUZ GALLEGOS: This reality now is very different because it comes with a lot of messaging that comes with a lot of hate and discrimination. It's a different narrative that our community wasn't used to before Trump came along.
REZVANI: Trump has warned the U.S. is under invasion. In the campaign, he falsely accused Haitian immigrants of eating pets. He suggested that migrants spread disease and, quote, "infect our country." Gallegos worries the rhetoric could incite some people with hostile views toward migrants. Out of fear, TODEC isn't publicizing all of its events, and they're holding more sessions virtually. Despite the uncertainty, Gallegos hopes Americans will see how critical immigrants without legal status are to the economy.
GALLEGOS: I don't know what's going to happen to our economy when inflation continues. And we're already hearing it from companies. They don't have workers. You know, for us, it's about the human being and the human rights. But for others, it's their bottom line, their economy.
REZVANI: Those without legal status have already retreated from their communities. Under Trump, ICE agents are now empowered to go into schools, hospitals and churches. Gallegos now knows of many kids who are staying home from school, parents too scared to go to work and families waiting anxiously to see just how extensive Trump's deportations will be.
Arezou Rezvani, NPR News, Perris, California.
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