Fearing ICE: Heightened anxiety for local immigrants

This is the first part of a two-part series on some of the challenges facing the local immigrant community.

Karin Anderson Ponzer of Neighbors Link Community Law Practice

By MARTIN WILBUR and DANIELA RYNOTT

Johanna’s decision to seek asylum in the United States and bring her three children was sudden and unexpected.

About a year-and-a-half ago, they fled their South American homeland after gangs, sometimes aided by law enforcement, targeted and sought to recruit her children.

Despite having no friends and family in the U.S., Johanna, who asked to be identified only by her first name and not to have her country of origin revealed, decided to make the trek northward with her daughter, now 15, and two sons, now 17 and 21.

“It was a long journey,” Johanna said in an interview with The Recorder through an interpreter. “We had to travel in various vehicles and as quickly as possible. We were experiencing hunger, lack of sleep. We had to cross rivers. I was traveling with my children. I was especially worried for my daughter who I tried to have near me at all times, and I decided not to sleep because I was worried that something could happen to her.”

After briefly settling in Manhattan, they moved to Westchester where Johanna works as a pet groomer while she awaits the outcome of her asylum case. Her children applied for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, a classification sought by certain undocumented immigrants under the age of 21 who have been abused, neglected or abandoned by one or both parents, in this case their father. Johanna’s oldest son has been approved for SIJS, which is a path to a green card that allows foreign nationals to live and work permanently in the U.S.

The Mount Kisco-based nonprofit organization Neighbors Link, through its Community Law Practice, prepared their applications for court and has advised the family, although it does not formally represent them.

But Johanna’s most recent immigration court visit in Westchester early last week was very different from her previous appearances to move their applications along. It was a scene that has played out in courtrooms and federal buildings across the nation. There were about 15 people on the docket; about 10 of them were detained by federal agents.

“I knew I might not be able to return home, and I was so scared to leave my children behind,” she recalled. “I went alone without them. The pain and the anguish I felt there was very ugly. ICE was at the doors. One of them was in the courtroom with the judge. One was in the hallway. Thanks to God I was there and I wasn’t detained. I saw so many people detained.”

Climate of fear

Johanna’s story provides a glimpse of the fear many of those seeking a legal pathway to live in the U.S. are enduring, said Karin Anderson Ponzer, director of the Neighbors Link Community Law Practice. 

There has always been immigration enforcement, particularly those who have a criminal history, Ponzer said. But since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, there have been various designations that have been stripped away by the administration, such as Temporary Protected Status, reserved for people from specific countries with unsafe conditions.

In many cases, the legal process toward asylum and other claims has been short-circuited.

Today, government lawyers often argue an application isn’t robust enough or a judge will pretermit — suspend any action — on  it, or deny it mid-claim, Ponzer said.

Other times a hearing is scheduled, but when the person appears, they are detained, including those with employment-based requests and others looking to naturalize.

“The reality is that these changes in the new climate of enforcement and fear impact everybody in terms of the feelings, the concern they have and in terms of the very real risk they face in terms of heightened scrutiny in any application in any change of status with this administration,” Ponzer said.

That rattles communities with high immigrant populations such as Mount Kisco, where many households have one or more members in the immigration system.  According to the most recent U.S. Census data, the nearly 11,000-resident village is officially more than 37% Hispanic, although some estimates have pegged that higher. 

But it’s not just limited to Mount Kisco. In Bedford, a deli worker described learning about ICE arrests secondhand. 

“We find out from the news and from Facebook that some regular customers have been taken by ICE, never to be seen again,” said the worker, who has worked at the deli for five years.

Helping those who need help

For many undocumented immigrants in Mount Kisco, Ángel Patiño is more than a business owner — he’s a frontline defender. Patiño, who immigrated from Ecuador with his wife decades ago, has taken on the role of protector and informant, using social networks, community tools and his own voice to keep neighbors alert and prepared.

Patiño launched Legado Latino, a cultural initiative aimed at celebrating and preserving Hispanic heritage in Mount Kisco. Through he and his family’s business and community efforts, they’ve become a backbone for many new arrivals seeking help, services or just someone who understands.

His presence offers a kind of assurance: someone is watching, someone is warning, someone is trying to protect.

“Those who go to court don’t come back, that’s for sure,” Patiño said in a recent interview. “There are two guys; I think one or both are Ecuadorian. They went to court 15 days ago and neither has come back. One had a court date and the other went with him. Both were taken. Once you go to court, you don’t come out. That’s how it is.”

As a response, he and others have distributed “red cards,” small laminated flyers that offer legal advice on what to do if ICE shows up. 

“We gave out red cards to almost everyone from Mexico,” Patiño said. “It explains how to open the door, how to respond — it’s actually a lot of help.”

While there have been no reports of federal agents attempting to gain access to area schools, Bedford Superintendent of Schools Robert Glass noted that there has been activity near Mount Kisco Elementary School. On June 19, ICE officers were seen near Lexington Avenue. The district sent a letter to families that day, confirming the sighting and assuring parents that “our school buildings are places where our young scholars are loved and cared for.”

For a district whose enrollment is about 40% Hispanic, staff are vigilant in protecting students while complying with the law. No agent may enter school grounds or access student information without direct approval from the superintendent. If agents present a warrant, staff are instructed to obtain a copy and immediately contact the superintendent’s office.

“It is vitally important to determine whether a warrant has been validly issued by a judge, and no action should be taken without proper legal review,” the district’s protocol states.

District officials also clarified that requests for information about a student’s enrollment or academic records must go through designated administrators, and only in accordance with privacy laws. 

“Our focus is, and always will be, on ensuring that our schools remain welcoming and protective environments for every child,” Glass said.

Continuing undeterred

Neighbors Link, which helps integrate immigrants into American society, its culture and workforce, continues to offer all of its legal services to the community, Ponzer said. It also provides community education to help those in the system understand their rights and obligations. A family preparedness program has been created, including all the documents immigrants should have available and designating which people can travel with or pick up children or make financial transactions should a parent be detained.

“It’s so important to have that in place,” Ponzer said. “It’s awful to think about. But it’s like having insurance. If I’m at risk of detention, I want to know that if I’m detained, I have a plan for my family.”

There is trepidation almost every day for Johanna, although with it having been summer her two youngest children have been home from school. They do very little other than go to work and come home. 

Johanna attends the court dates, and puts her faith in God.

“I was hoping that maybe the judge would give me the chance to speak and to ask for an opportunity to stay,” she said. “We sacrificed so much to be here and we haven’t done anything wrong. We have no criminal records.”

The second part of this series will be published Sept. 5.

Martin Wilbur has more than 30 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including having previously served as editor-in-chief of The Examiner.

Daniela Rynott was a summer intern for The Recorder. She is an incoming freshman at Northeastern University.