By DEBORAH E. LANS
HUDSON–Imagine this: you are an unauthorized resident of the United States living in Hudson. Fleeing gang violence and crushing poverty in El Salvador, you fled to the U.S. with your two children, an infant and a five-year old. Along the way, in Mexico, your oldest was kidnapped by a gang and you had to pay to ransom for him.
You have lived and worked in Hudson for three years, while your asylum claim was heard, and denied, because your lawyer, to whom you paid $10,000, forgot to submit English translations of your proof of risks at home. You fear that at your next mandatory check-in with ICE they will detain and then deport you. What will happen to your children?
Or, you are a husband and wife who have lived in Columbia County for a decade. You are from Haiti. Until Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, moved to revoke the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of Haitian immigrants in February – a status that had been issued in recognition of the political instability, violence and human trafficking rampant in Haiti – your presence here was lawful. Your child is a citizen, having been born in America eight years ago. You both work and pay taxes. Your son is in school here. After August 3, 2025 when the TPS of Haitians will end, you can be deported. What will happen to your son?
These are not hypothetical questions.
Instead, these and many others are the questions faced by immigrant families in our community, ones which Columbia County Sanctuary Movement (CCSM) is trying to help families to address.
As CCSM’s co-founder Bryan MacCormack explains, the substantial majority of immigrant families locally and nationally are of mixed status, which usually means that at least some of the children in the family, having been born in the country, are citizens while their parents or other caregivers are not, and those members may have varying types of legal status ranging from some protection to none.
CCSM works (among other things) to help families plan. Plan for a visit from ICE. Plan for the detention or deportation of parents. Plan for legal proceedings.
One element of this work is creating a family plan, a written document that contains all the family’s vital information (family member and employer addresses, telephone numbers, health insurance data, bank account and license numbers) and helps them to organize what might be considered a “go bag.” Included in the document preparation is the execution of key legal documents, to be used if the worst happens: a “standby guardianship declaration” that appoints a trusted family member or friend to care and make decisions for children in the event the parents are detained or deported; a power of attorney, that allows another person to access bank accounts or make rent payments, among other things, in the stead of the parent – the equivalent of estate planning for the living.
Because, CCSM says, ICE often works by deceit and intimidation, CCSM also educates the community about its rights. The right not to grant access to a home, vehicle or non-public space unless ICE has a judicial warrant – i.e., a warrant issued by a court as distinct from an administrative document issued by ICE itself. The right not to answer questions and to remain silent. The right to video or photograph the encounter (unless you are on government property). The right to decline to sign documents presented by ICE (by which, often, immigrants waive vital protections).
CCSM also has a “rapid response network.” When there is news of an ICE presence, raid or other activity, CCSM posts it on Facebook. CCSM works to confirm the information, so as not to spread alarming but undocumented rumors.
CCSM has some, but is always looking for more, volunteers to act as interpreters and translators for the varied immigrant groups that live locally, in languages ranging from Haitian to Bengali, from Ukrainian to Spanish. Translators assist in completing forms and accompanying clients to courts, government appointments, meetings with lawyers, educators, banks and health care providers. CCSM’s co-Executive Director Diana Cruz says that the lack of language access is one of the greatest challenges immigrants face and that interpreters usually enhance the quality of advocacy and care received by their clients.
As Ms. Cruz puts it, immigrants “do not get second chances in our system.” Accordingly, CCSM provides referrals to trusted or pro bono attorneys for those involved in the criminal or immigration systems, case coordination and free legal clinics with partner organizations. In 2021 CCSM also launched its own in-house immigration service, after being accredited by the federal Department of Justice to do so.
CCSM also meets periodically with local government officials and law enforcement. CCSM has, and anticipates continuing, a strong relationship with the Hudson Police Department. The Sheriff’s Office, under Donald Krapf, on the other hand, has violated on a number of occasions the non-cooperation agreement entered into with his predecessor and has turned immigrants over to ICE, Mr. MacCormack says, even though ICE did not have a judicial warrant for the person in question.
In the face of Trump Administration threats of mass deportation, various state institutions have issued statements to clarify the rights and obligations of the courts, law enforcement, schools and SUNY colleges. In essence, none of those institutions is to admit or allow the detention, interrogation or removal of an immigrant unless ICE presents a judicial warrant.
Historically, and by Biden Administration policy, those locations as well as hospitals, places of worship, playgrounds and non-profits serving immigrants were considered “sensitive” areas that were off-limits to ICE. Indeed, the concept of religious sanctuary has roots in the Old Testament, which recognized “Cities of Refuge.” By the 13th century it was known that a person could take “sanctuary” in a church for a period of time, if not indefinitely. Many consider the pre-Civil War Underground Railroad to have been a form of sanctuary, and during the Vietnam War, conscientious draft resisters often took refuge in sanctuary churches. Today there are sanctuary churches in the county, but they choose not to publicize their status so as to avoid unwanted attention.
The Trump Administration has rescinded the “sensitive areas” policy, even for religious institutions, a circumstance that not only prompted various New York State institutions to reaffirm the protections of areas like schools and courts but also brought a lawsuit from various Quaker organizations that argued that the new policy interferes with immigrants’ right to worship.
Indeed, the new administration’s policies are calculated to instill fear. Ms. Cruz of CCSM notes that often immigrants are victims of crimes and then, for fear of involvement with law enforcement, do not report the crimes. Local non-profits report that school attendance has become problematic, as immigrant parents fear the detention of their children.
Another important area of CCSM’s work is advocating for the passage of protective legislation. In 2019, New York State passed the “Green Light Law,” which enables even undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, as a recognition that it is better for drivers to be licensed than to drive illegally and that many cannot survive or work without driving. Although a number of states have similar laws, the administration’s “Border Czar” has threatened to seek nationwide legislation banning “Green Light Laws.”
CCSM not only looks to protect existing laws but also to secure new legislation to protect immigrants. The CCSM website lists all of its legislative and budgetary priorities. Key are: the “Access to Representation” act, that would establish a right to counsel in immigration proceedings; CCSM statistics demonstrate that having counsel enormously improves a person’s likelihood of succeeding in immigration proceedings; and, the New York for All Act, which would prohibit state and local officers from enforcing federal immigration laws, funneling people into ICE custody and sharing sensitive data with federal authorities, and that would require that detainees be informed of their rights before being interviewed by ICE.
CCSM’s website is sanctuarycolumbiacounty.org.
To contact reporter Deborah Lans, email deborahlans@icloud.com.
