Things are getting tough for undocumented immigrants in the metropolitan area of Atlanta. The boom of construction and service jobs in the area made it a beckon for immigrants but conservative politics and the new national policies have turned every day into a gamble for the people who inhabit the area.
Cristina Montero runs a daycare from her small loft in the Chamblee Heights apartments, only 16 miles away from downtown Atlanta, from where she is constantly the one to be on the lookout for ICE SUV’s who make their rounds in the area every morning. Once Montero catches sight of the trucks she starts warning her neighbors who in less than 15 minutes all become aware of the presence of ‘la migra’.
https://twitter.com/SeanMcElwee/status/934825272326713344
As they wait for the danger to pass, many apartment residents will have to be late for work or skip altogether, some children will also miss the bus to school. “It’s just us helping each other out,” said Ms. Monteros, “There’s fear every day.”
President Donald Trump has put a target on the backs of anyone who is undocumented and living in the U.S., and by his hand immigration arrests have increased by more than 40% this year alone, making the Obama administration who deported a record number of undocumented immigrants look like amateurs (only focusing on serious criminals and recent arrivals) unlike Trump who has focused on all undocumented people.
In #Atlanta, #ICE is systematically hunting down #immigrants, terrifying the community. "Please, God, don't let me get stopped," one mother prays every time she drives her car.
What happened to the Land of the Free? #immigration #DreamActhttps://t.co/EjmN8HyIr0
— Chris Perri (@ChrisPerriTX) November 26, 2017
With the liberty to roams as they please, the regional ICE offices in Atlanta have made 80% more arrests in the first half of this year than it did on the same period last year, which is the largest increase of any field office in the country, this, of course, comes at a price and such operations are not cheap by any means, but Trump is willing to pay the price in order to please his “disenfranchised” crowd who feel overwhelmed by immigration.
ICE does not act alone, local sheriffs and police also want a piece of that succulent budget and have disregarded their usual duties in order to cooperate with federal agents in the hunting down of immigrants, regardless if this extra work means that crime goes unattended and rampant in the state, the Trump administration is actually expanding this model of cooperation between agencies and hopes that all resources are used to crack down immigrants.
The Atlanta regional ICE office has made about 80% more arrests in the first half of this year than it did in the same period last year, the largest increase of any field office in the country. https://t.co/YrQz4wJePW
— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) November 26, 2017
In Atlanta alone, every few hours and undocumented immigrant is booked into a county jail on made up charges that vary in degree, only so they can have an excuse to alert ICE, which is completely the opposite of what happens in sanctuary cities where local authorities refuse to turn over immigrants save the cases where a serious crime was committed.
If y’all didn’t know: Gwinnett County PD ain’t shit. Also, the ICE office in Atlanta made 80% more arrests in the first half of this year than it did in the same period last year, the largest increase of any office in the COUNTRY. Now tell me again how Atlanta’s a sanctuary city. pic.twitter.com/PJ4TBIo8cO
— allison (@allisoonnh) November 27, 2017
Article inspired The New York Times // ‘Please, God, Don’t Let Me Get Stopped’: Around Atlanta, No Sanctuary for Immigrants