FAs President Donald Trump swore, his administration intensified his efforts to keep his promise to expel a historic number of immigrants. They started by trying to end the constitutional guarantee of the citizenship of the birth law, then targeting the sanctuary cities: centers where the police and local authorities limit their cooperation with the federal immigration application agencies. Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, a new federal immigration detention center that I visited on Saturday, is one of their last efforts.
Once a transitional house is, it is located on the outskirts of the Ironbound, a predominantly immigrant district – and this is where the mayor of Newark was arrested last week for allegedly intrusion and ignored the warnings to leave the installation.
From my point of view, as someone is intimately familiar with its environment, the existence of Delaney Hall opposes the values of the very community where it is, and dissonance is astounding. I know it because I grew up a few kilometers from the establishment, near Wilson avenue, an animated route teeming with bakeries and cafes belonging to immigrants. My brother taught me to drive building houses from the building.
My visit was unforeseen, but after reading a handful of articles representing how mayor Baraka was arrested and detained, I had to see him myself in order to understand that the danger he represents for my community is not only real but also imminent.
The first question in mind was: with the objectives of the Trump administration to strengthen the detention and expulsion numbers, which will fulfill Delaney Hall? Will it be the even immigrants who live and work a mile on Wilson avenue?
The location of the installation is important and should demoralize and systematically exhaust Newark, itself a sanctuary city whose mayor and the local government have historically protected and celebrated immigrants. Operating an ice detention center where thousands of immigrants live and work is a psychological blow that scares people with what is the largest city in New Jersey. The judgment and detention of the mayor Baraka could also be considered as an intimidation tactic aimed at transmitting a broader message: in Trump America, dissent, whether at the level of the state or local level, will have a cost. Baraka, for example, was detained for several hours. When he was finally released at 8 p.m., he told the supporters “the reality is as follows: I did nothing wrong.”
According to the Associated Press, the arrest of Baraka occurred after trying to join three members of the delegation of the New Jersey Congress, representatives Robert Menendez, Lamonica McIiver and Bonnie Watson Coleman, trying to enter the installation. In a statement, the Ministry of Internal Security said that the group “had stormed the door and burst into the detention center”.
Apart from Delaney Hall, I took my environment. Several new teams have installed their camera equipment a few meters from me. The ice agents came out and entered the installation, keeping the face covered at any time. I praised and called a few agents to see if they would speak to me, but they ignored me. I managed to speak with the Mikie Sherrill MP for the Democratic Party, which was held outside the establishment by speaking to journalists.
“I am very concerned about what we have just seen yesterday. I opposed private detention facilities. It is against the law here in New Jersey to use private detention facilities for the detention of ice cream,” she said. “We are fighting in court right now against the federal government. I worked with the delegation, including on a letter led by Bonnie Watson Coleman to plead against this and continue to remain opposite, and was very upset to see yesterday how the members of the Congress were treated. “
Sherrill continued, speaking of the mayor Ras Baraka. “I am very happy that he was released but remains concerned about the fact that the police forces who arrested him were largely unidentifiable,” said the deputy. “We have not seen badges; we have not seen any names. Their faces were covered. And it seems that they act more in accordance with the political agenda than to the laws of the United States and the people they serve.”
Trump has long used a language that dehumanizes immigrants, which facilitates the fact that the American people accept and even support the unjustified arrest of a mayor of the city and a candidate for the post of governor. Despite what the current administration can say, the overwhelming majority of immigrants from this country are not violent criminals. And recent efforts to deport and detention, led by the alleged objective of targeting violent crimes, create chaos in communities full of good ordinary people.
Sanctuous cities like Newark and their elected officials, such as Mayor Baraka, do not protect violent offenders. Instead, they ensure that immigrants can be integrated into society by giving them the opportunity to live with dignity and access ascending mobility. These sanctuaries, like Newark, are communities where immigrants and immigrant children can live without problem by the constant fear of persecution and expulsion.
Living without incident by fear is having the opportunity to prosper. I know it from personal experience.
As a first generation immigrant myself that came to the United States at the end of 2002 at the age of 14, I cannot imagine having arrived in a more inclusive or recognizing place like me. I frequented a largely immigrant high school where most of us spoke in Spanish, Portuguese, Ourdou or Varnish at home. Our teachers – including immigrants or first generation Americans – gave us high expectations and served as living examples of what it is to prosper in this country.
At the time, as a newcomer with a language barrier and learning to assimilate, I benefited from the inherent belief of my city that an immigrant like me deserved the opportunity to lead an ordinary and stable life.
We must all feel like we belong somewhere. Cities like Newark offer immigrants stability and space where they do not have to retire in the shadows. They can be one of the communities where they reside, participate and contribute without the threat of imminent fear.
With Delaney Hall in their backyard, Newark residents have one more reason to live in fear. It is very possible that this fear is the point – to overwhelm and stun democratic centers in inaction and paralysis and, possibly, conformity and submission, even if it means to aggressively stop their mayor.
The existence of Delaney Hall will continue to spread fear and anxiety, forcing many immigrants to feel the need to withdraw from daily life, to hide at home because they do not feel safe enough to go to work or send their children to school. These same fears could force the inhabitants of Newark to refrain from their right to protest and fight the injustices that take place at home.
Equally worrying is the arrest of Mayor Baraka: I fear that it normalizes transgressions against dissident members of the government. My concern: finally, we can all feel the impact of an excessive administration willing to abuse its power.
Mayor Baraka’s efforts should serve as an example for local leaders around the world. Sanctuar cities like Newark need protection more than ever. Their impact on the life of immigrants is invaluable. The immigrant population of our country deserves the opportunity to prosper, and our communities, populated by immigrants or citizens, deserve better.
