One of the most disturbing trends of the Trump administration has been the surge of what immigrant rights advocates call “silent raids”: undocumented immigrants with periodic, mandatory check-ins at Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices are walking inside, but are not walking back out because they’ve been detained. “Frequently, this means that routine appointments at ICE offices are becoming the first step towards eventual expulsion from the United States,” advocacy group America’s Voice said in 2017.
On Tuesday, former Housing and Urban Development Sec. Julián Castro became the first 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to accompany an immigrant to one of these check-ins, escorting José Reynaldo Robinson Palacios, a Honduran refugee, to his appointment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. To the relief of advocates, they not only walked back out of the office, but had also convinced officials to remove his GPS ankle monitor. Outside the office, an emotional José pulled up his pant leg to show his supporters.
The 33-year-old, who fled his home country “after a drug trafficking organization began forcibly recruiting him,” had told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that the days leading into the check-in felt like an impending "death sentence." Following the appointment on Tuesday, “the immigrant from Honduras wiped tears from his eyes as he thanked Castro and other supporters who traveled with him to the federal office building,” Radio Iowa said.
This visit mattered because families have reason to fear these once-routine visits. In the opening months of the Trump administration, one immigration attorney told the Associated Press that “one in five of his clients with scheduled check-ins has been detained since Trump took office, something that hardly ever happened during the prior administration.” Guadalupe García de Rayos, a mom who had been swept up in one of former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio’s workplace raids, had checked in with ICE for eight years without issue. She became one of the first immigrants to be deported in the new administration, leaving behind two U.S. citizen kids.
Knowing that accompanying immigrants to their check-ins with federal immigration officials can make a difference, groups like Sanctuary DMV have created volunteer opportunities for folks looking for ways to stand in solidarity with families. Back in Iowa, advocates including Iowa City Catholic Worker House and Iowa Citizens for Community Engagement were overjoyed that José’s visit had gone well, but pointed out there are so many other families that deserve the same chance too.
“We came here with José,” said Emily Sinnwell of the Iowa City Catholic Worker House, “but there’s a room full of people in there in the same position.” Castro, who was the first candidate of the 2020 field to release a detailed immigration plan, echoed her thoughts and reiterated the need to overhaul ICE. "José is one person, one life, who is affected by our unjust and broken immigration system," he said. "We need to fix our broken immigration system ... and recognize immigrants, both documented and undocumented, have added immeasurably to the forward progress of this nation."