SAN JOSE — In a bold rebuke to President Donald Trump's tough talk on sanctuary cities and widespread rumors that federal raids are imminent, city and community leaders on Wednesday said they are ready to unleash hundreds of volunteers to aid undocumented immigrants targeted with deportation.
With cellphone cameras rolling, community volunteers say they have already started documenting action by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, protecting immigrant rights and providing support to those arrested as well as those left behind.
Carrasco's comments came the same day the U.S. Department of Justice sent letters to 23 cities and counties — including San Francisco, Berkeley, Fremont and Watsonville in the Bay Area — demanding they produce documentation showing whether their local law enforcement is failing to share information with federal immigration authorities. The Justice Department threatened to subpoena those who don't comply.
It's unclear why Alameda and Santa Clara counties and San Jose weren't included in the new order, but San Jose submitted its police policy to the Department of Justice last year, according to Zulma Maciel, director of the city's Office of Immigrant Affairs. San Jose was the first city to sue the Trump administration over Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. which protects young immigrants, or "Dreamers," brought here illegally as children.
At the City Hall news conference, Ernesto Perez, an undocumented immigrant, said he and his children are terrified they could get swept up in a federal raid.
Although federal authorities have said they are only targeting those with criminal records, Perez says that's not the reality in San Jose's immigrant neighborhoods.
Santa Clara County has set up a "Rapid Response Network" that operates a 24-hour hotline for people to report ICE raids whenever they see signs of them. Doing so will activate volunteers — 600 have signed up and have been trained so far — that will inform residents of their rights and make sure due process is observed. The hotline phone number is 408-290-1144.