Rick Dean
Registered
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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=...id=44551&rfi=6-
Illegal city immigrants laying low after sweep
JOSHUA L. , Staff Writer 04/25/2004
A day after a sweep by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service nabbed upwards of 15 illegal immigrants, illegal aliens living in Trenton were laying low last night, hoping they weren't next.
After three of their family members were apparently taken into custody during the sweep, a South Ward couple trembled in fear in their home last night.
"I'm not sleeping," said
aria, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. "I'm really nervous. I'm scared."
Officials have yet to announce how many illegal immigrants were taken into custody Friday at around 6 a.m. and ho
w
he sweep came about.
'It was some kind of operation looking for fugit
ives," said Brett Dreyer, an investigator for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the USCIS based in Newark.
Dreyer said he didn't know if the immigrants arrested had committed crimes in the U.S. or if their crime was simply being an illegal immigrant.
According to Carlos, a Guatemalan native who has been in this country illegally for 17 years, the men are being held somewhere in New Jersey and will be deported. One of the men was able to call his wife, who has been in contact with Carlos, he said.
He was told that police were looking for illegal aliens who have eluded authorities for much of the last decade. When they couldn't initially find some of the targets, he was told, they arr
ested other illegal immigrants in raids on homes around Trenton.
"My little daughters are really traumatized," Carlos said of his 14- and 9-year-old daughters. One of them "
star
ted
crying. S
he asked if that's going to happen to us."
Carlos and Maria are a married couple that own
their South Ward home. Maria said the family pays its taxes and insurance bills but have not been granted legal status in this country. What else can they do, they ask?
"I asked an immigration lawyer if I could do anything to fix my situation," Carlos said. "He said, 'not really.'"
According to community activist Juan Martinez, the sweep will make the Latino community in Trenton even more hesitant to contact police or other authorities when they have problems. Martinez said he has been working with the city to build that trust. The sweep, he said, is doing away with all of that.
"How can I tell these people now to speak to the police and trust them?&qu
ot; Martinez said.
"It's a great panic out here," he said. "There's a lot of fear. Immigration (authorities don't) just come in this easy. Something premeditated
this. M
um is t
he word. No one i
s talking."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=...id=44551&rfi=6-
Illegal city immigrants laying low after sweep
JOSHUA L. , Staff Writer 04/25/2004
A day after a sweep by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service nabbed upwards of 15 illegal immigrants, illegal aliens living in Trenton were laying low last night, hoping they weren't next.
After three of their family members were apparently taken into custody during the sweep, a South Ward couple trembled in fear in their home last night.
"I'm not sleeping," said
aria, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. "I'm really nervous. I'm scared."
Officials have yet to announce how many illegal immigrants were taken into custody Friday at around 6 a.m. and ho
w
he sweep came about.
'It was some kind of operation looking for fugit
ives," said Brett Dreyer, an investigator for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the USCIS based in Newark.
Dreyer said he didn't know if the immigrants arrested had committed crimes in the U.S. or if their crime was simply being an illegal immigrant.
According to Carlos, a Guatemalan native who has been in this country illegally for 17 years, the men are being held somewhere in New Jersey and will be deported. One of the men was able to call his wife, who has been in contact with Carlos, he said.
He was told that police were looking for illegal aliens who have eluded authorities for much of the last decade. When they couldn't initially find some of the targets, he was told, they arr
ested other illegal immigrants in raids on homes around Trenton.
"My little daughters are really traumatized," Carlos said of his 14- and 9-year-old daughters. One of them "
star
ted
crying. S
he asked if that's going to happen to us."
Carlos and Maria are a married couple that own
their South Ward home. Maria said the family pays its taxes and insurance bills but have not been granted legal status in this country. What else can they do, they ask?
"I asked an immigration lawyer if I could do anything to fix my situation," Carlos said. "He said, 'not really.'"
According to community activist Juan Martinez, the sweep will make the Latino community in Trenton even more hesitant to contact police or other authorities when they have problems. Martinez said he has been working with the city to build that trust. The sweep, he said, is doing away with all of that.
"How can I tell these people now to speak to the police and trust them?&qu
ot; Martinez said.
"It's a great panic out here," he said. "There's a lot of fear. Immigration (authorities don't) just come in this easy. Something premeditated
this. M
um is t
he word. No one i
s talking."