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CURRENT
ISSUE: February 5, 2007
VOL.
45, NO. 3Oakland,
CA
Fear sweeps into Richmond during raids
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| Father Ramiro Flores speaks about the negative impact
of immigration sweeps during a Jan. 26 press conference at his parish.
With him are, from left, Carolyn Krantz, pastoral associate at St.
Peter Martyr Parish in Pittsburg, a woman who asked not to be identified
as she testified about the deportation of her 30-year-old uncle, and
Mark Silverman, an attorney with Immigrant Legal Resource Center. JOSE LUIS AGUIRRE PHOTO |
At Richmond’s
St. Mark Parish, members were already struggling with poverty and violence
in their community. Then, three weeks ago, another wave of difficulties
washed over them – federal immigration officers, armed with deportation
orders, were arresting additional undocumented men, women and teens as
they left for work or took their children to school.
Father Ramiro Flores, St. Mark’s parochial administrator, began
getting calls from distraught parishioners. He and other leaders of the
Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization had a further
concern. The fragile trust and cooperation established between the local
police and the community to fight drug trafficking and gun violence was
quickly eroding because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials
were misrepresenting themselves as police.
“Richmond is always a fearful place to live, but now more so,”
said Father Flores at a Jan. 26 press conference called by CCISCO to protest
the ICE tactics.
Mark Silverman, director of immigration policy at the Immigrant Legal
Resource Center, added that the current ICE strategy is “defeating
decades of work in community policing.”
Immigration officials, however, defend their practice, saying they are
federal police and specifically target immigrants with deportation orders,
especially those who have committed crimes. ICE agents also have the discretion
to question people not on their list.
According to CCISCO, out of the 119 detainees from Contra Costa County,
94 were “encountered in the process,” meaning they had no
deportation orders.
Father Flores spoke about a parish leader, married to a U.S. citizen and
the father of two young children, who was taken away by ICE. He described
a young mother waiting to pick up her child outside a Richmond school.
“She was not even allowed to go inside to say ‘goodbye,’”
he said of the woman’s detention.
At a Jan. 30 community forum, also at St. Mark’s, several hundred
people gathered to protest the sweeps. One participant told of ICE coming
to his apartment, breaking the door and detaining him, his wife and son
without a warrant. They were later released because they are legal residents.
“Everyone is feeling fear and terror,” said Jessica Peregrina,
outreach coordinator at Casa de Esperanza, the social service arm of St.
Mark’s.
At the forum, attorney Silverman role-played several scenarios to help
participants understand their legal rights as immigrants. For example,
he told them that they do not have to open their door if ICE does not
have a search warrant. He also distributed a list of immigration attorneys
available to help families of persons who have been detained.
Richmond Mayor Gail McLaughlin was among several city officials attending
the forum to show support for the immigrant community. Richmond has a
policy that local police will not cooperate with immigration agents unless
ordered to do so by the chief or city manager, said Councilman John Marquez.
He helped establish this policy in 1990 after police joined immigration
agents in major raids against Hispanics living in the downtown area. “I
am very disappointed in the way this current activity is taking place,”
he said.
Richmond council members said they will introduce a resolution on Feb.
6 asking that the city seek an end to ICE’s current activity and
tactics.
Parish leaders in other parts of the Contra Costa County are also concerned.
Father Hugo Hernandez, parochial administrator at St. Francis of Assisi
Parish in Concord, was meeting with parishioners to discuss ICE detentions
in Concord.
Carolyn Krantz, pastoral associate at St. Peter Martyr Parish in Pittsburg,
said parishioners are “very afraid” that ICE will move to
their community next. “These are hardworking people, not criminals,”
she said. She too is worried that the positive relationship with the local
police, built over 30 years, will be fractured if ICE agents identify
themselves as police to enter homes or get people to talk to them.
Attorney Silverman is questioning why ICE is taking such aggressive action
on the eve of proposed federal immigration reform that will likely offer
paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
In a letter to pastors and pastoral staffs last April, Oakland Bishop
Allen Vigneron said he was committed to “support for those who are
suffering and struggling in our communities. Many are far away from home
and family, living in the shadows, fearful of discovery and deportation.
As the Body of Christ we welcome them as our brothers and sisters and
extend our compassion and community support without judgment.”
Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, said the Church must
supplement its ministerial programs with political advocacy if it is to
meet the needs of the growing immigrant population in the United States.
Some people question the Church’s role in politics or challenge
the Church’s position on immigration reform, but the Church’s
mission is not limited to people’s spiritual well-being, the cardinal
said.“
