Europeans often hid in plain sight as Latin Americans, Asians and others living illegally in the US were sent packing, but now they are starting to realize they are not immune to US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, and they are worried.
The number of Europeans deported this federal fiscal year from the US could surpass last fiscal year’s total, according to figures provided to The Associated Press by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
From Oct. 2 last year through June 24, more than 1,300 Europeans have been removed, compared with 1,450 during all of federal fiscal year 2016 — the last under former US president Barack Obama. The agency did not provide estimates broken down by calendar year.
In San Jose, California, an HIV-positive Russian asylum seeker faces possible deportation after overstaying his visa. In Chicago, Polish and Irish community groups say they are seeing inquiries about immigration and citizenship-related services surge as people seek legal protections.
In Boston, John Cunningham, a well-known Irishman who had overstayed his visa by 14 years, was sent back to Ireland last week, sending shivers through the city’s sizeable Irish expat community.
“People are very, very concerned and lying low,” says Ronnie Millar, of the Boston-based Irish International Immigrant Center. “The message is that if it can happen to John, it can happen to anyone.”
Europeans comprise about 440,000 of the estimated 11 million people living illegally in the US, the Migration Policy Institute said.
Since just before Trump was elected in November last year, the US has deported 167,350 foreigners, compared with 240,255 in all of fiscal year 2016. Immigrants from Latin America make up the most by far, with Mexico leading the way at about 93,000.
Among Europeans, Romanians make up the largest share, with 193 deportations so far in fiscal year 2017. Behind are Spain at 117; the UK at 102; Russia at 81; and Poland at 74. Those countries were also tops last fiscal year; Romania had 176, the UK 160, Poland 160, Spain 115 and Russia 94.
Immigrant advocates say they have been urging individuals to know their rights if they are stopped and for parents to make arrangements for their children in the event they’re detained.
“The worst aspect of these numbers from our perspective is that our community organizations do not know who is being deported and why, and are unable to send immigration attorneys to assist them,” says Dmitri Daniel Glinski, president of the Russian-Speaking Community Council of Manhattan and the Bronx.
In California, San Jose resident Denis Davydov was detained for more than a month after returning from a vacation in the US Virgin Islands.
He was eventually released after his lawyer argued Davydov was legally allowed to re-enter because he is currently seeking political asylum for being gay and HIV-positive, but he could be forced to return to Russia if his request is denied.
Davydov says the experience of being detained — and the uncertainty it has thrust into his asylum application — has left him feeling vulnerable.
“Before this, I thought I was a doing everything right, but I’m afraid now that doing everything right is not enough. I don’t know what else I can do,” he said. “I feel like it can happen again to me anywhere. In the airport or in the street.”
At the Polish American Association in Chicago, executive director Magdalena Dolas said her organization has been asked to give talks about what residents should do if immigration officials show up at their doorstep.
“People are worrying about their rights,” she said. “It shows there is awareness but that there is also anxiety.”
The Chicago Irish Immigrant Support Center has been receiving triple the number of inquiries on immigration and legal service matters these days as it did a year ago, executive director Michael Collins said.
There have been 18 deportations among Irish nationwide in the current fiscal year, compared with 26 in all of last fiscal year, according to the ICE data.
“The rumor has gone around, ‘Don’t go in any courthouses, and if you hear a knock on your door and you’re not expecting anyone, don’t answer it,’” said Benny Murphy, a 32-year-old bartender in Boston who had been living in this country illegally until about three years ago, when he married a woman who is a US citizen.
Advocates complain Trump, in taking a hardline against immigration scofflaws, is sweeping up many hardworking taxpayers, many of whom have raised children who are now US citizens. The Obama administration, in contrast, focused immigration enforcement on the most serious criminals.
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
RSS