A report by The Washington Post stokes fears among illegal immigrants and Muslims living in the country, claiming that President-Elect Donald Trump’s incoming immigration policies have “increased fear.”
The piece, which focuses primarily on the left-wing Prince George’s County in Maryland, says that schoolchildren fear being deported by the incoming Trump administration, using quotes from an open borders advocate to stoke deportation hysteria:
George Escobar, senior director of human services at CASA, an advocacy group, said school efforts are important, with some immigrants and advocates on edge.
“There is a vague, ominous negative feeling that something is going to happen,” he said. “We’re in a very difficult moment right now. It’s a dark cloud over all of us.”
The Washington Post also characterized the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency as conducting “aggressive” raids of illegal immigrants:
The schools chief in Prince George’s County recently warned educators that more students might be absent from class or struggle with increased fear amid what some see as stepped-up federal enforcement actions against immigrants.
Kevin Maxwell wrote that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have been increasingly aggressive in their arrests of those facing deportation in Maryland, based on information from the public defender’s office. He gave principals and staff advice about talking to worried families and highlighted details about federal policy.
The piece fear-mongers about the deportation of illegal immigrants in a Trump immigration plan, but also states that President Obama is conducting similar actions.
“Many are scared that Trump — who put illegal immigration at the center of his campaign — will ramp up deportation efforts, already significant during the Obama administration,” the Post notes.
ICE, which is tasked with deporting individuals living in the country illegally, was again painted as an “aggressive”, military-style deportation unit:
The Maryland Office of the Public Defender cited a more aggressive approach by ICE in making arrests in and near courtrooms in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in recent months. The arrests, in a handful of cases, have come while defendants were at court on criminal matters unrelated to their immigration status, said Melissa Rothstein, the office’s director of policy and development.
Rothstein also noted that the public defender’s office received a recent report that after 150 to 200 people showed up at an ICE office in Baltimore in response to letters that called them in for an “interview,” some were taken into ICE custody. The scale of the enforcement action was larger than others the office had heard about before, she said.
Escobar, the same open borders advocate cited earlier was quoted again, saying he is outraged that ICE officials are “enthusiastic” over the Trump immigration plan:
“Are we seeing more enthusiastic ICE officers? Unfortunately, we’ve seen that all year,” Escobar said. “Unfortunately, people get deported and detained on a daily basis.” He said he thinks that, after Trump’s victory, public awareness is up, with many people “looking at ICE with a watchful eye.”
Trump has promised to deport violent criminal illegal immigrants before taking on the task of dealing with a potential 30-plus million illegal immigration population in the U.S.
Among other things, Trump plans to enforce E-Verify, which makes it entirely illegal for domestic businesses to hire illegal immigrants and is expected to pass an infrastructure bill that will help build a barrier along the southern border to end the surge of illegal immigration.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) likely headed by General John Kelly, along with attorney general designee Jeff Sessions is expected to crack down on “sanctuary” policies across the country.
John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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