Unwelcoming national rhetoric on immigrants + refugees is already affecting Fort Wayne
President Donald Trump's first week of his second term is already making waves in Fort Wayne, perhaps most notably causing chaos and confusion for (and about) local immigrants and refugees.
89.1 WBOI notes that "Trump ran on promises of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants," and "Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE agents have been reportedly rounding up suspected undocumented immigrants in communities around the country in recent days."
While much about Trump’s actions and policy changes remains unclear (and TBD by the court system), here are a few things we're seeing and hearing so far:
- Last week: we received a reader email regarding posts circulating on social media of heavily armed agents Downtown, at Glenbrook Mall and other locations, reportedly with ICE. The reader said: “I'd like to know more about what they're doing and who they're accountable to locally if anyone.” (To be clear: we were unable to confirm whether these agents were with ICE and what exactly they were doing.)
- We reached out: to the City of Fort Wayne and the Fort Wayne Police Department, and the Mayor’s office who did not explain the images and claims, but issued a statement Friday afternoon, noting that “the City of Fort Wayne cannot interfere” with ICE, and “local law enforcement is not in a position to assist or intervene in civil immigration enforcement.”
- We also received a report yesterday: that a U.S.-born, law-abiding citizen who works as a Spanish translator in Fort Wayne was stopped by police in Wells County nearby, questioned about her supposed immigration status and asked to present her passport.
Here is her full story about the incident on the morning of Jan. 27 on her way to work in Fort Wayne (posted anonymously to protect her identity):
“It was strange. While I was driving, I spotted a suspicious vehicle I thought might be the police, so I was driving extra carefully. But as I drove past the vehicle, it pulled up behind me and started following me for several minutes. Then the driver put on their flashing lights and pulled me over. The officer who stopped me told me he pulled me over for not wearing my seatbelt, but my seatbelt was on. (I have a new Rav4 that beeps loudly when my seatbelt is not secured, so I didn’t believe his reasoning.) The first thing he said to me was: “I’m going to need to see your passport.” I told him I don’t usually carry my passport with me throughout the day, but I could provide him with my driver’s license. He said: ‘Fine, then show me your ID, or we’ll detain you.’ So I warned him that I needed to reach into my purse in the backseat to find it, and while I was searching for my ID, he started questioning me, asking things like: ‘Are you here illegally?’ To be clear, I am a legal citizen, but by this time, I was getting nervous, and I felt like I was being harassed. Even after I presented him with my ID, he kept questioning me about my passport, and he started to get aggressive and asked me to get out of my car. I told him I would not get out because I didn’t feel safe, but he said: If you don’t step out, we’ll use force to get you out. Then he pulled me out of the car, handcuffed me and put me in a police vehicle while he checked my driver’s license. Then he and another officer on the scene just came back over and said I was free to go. Not even a ‘sorry.’ I’m a good driver. I’ve never been in an accident or had an interaction like this with law enforcement before. Honestly, I was scared for my safety. I also felt like I couldn’t record the situation on my phone because I didn’t have my phone within reach, and the officer asked me to keep my hands where he could see them at all times. I think it would be helpful for residents to better understand what rights they have in situations like this, and whether the police have the authority to ask if people are here legally. It would also be helpful to know how immigrants, refugees and People of Color, in general, might prepare for potential interactions with law enforcement, even if they are legal, law-abiding citizens. Do we need to start carrying our passports everywhere we go?”
The ACLU provides information regarding the rights of citizens, immigrants and refugees when interacting with police and other law enforcement officers:
- In some states, you must provide your name to law enforcement if you are stopped and told to identify yourself. But even if you give your name, you don’t have to answer other questions.
- If you are driving and are pulled over, the officer can require you to show your license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance, but you don’t have to answer questions about your immigration status.
According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle: “law enforcement may soon be required to give federal authorities notice when they arrest people suspected of being in the country illegally,” pending House Bill 1393, which critics say could result in “racial and linguistic profiling.” However, as the bill stands, it would require officers to have "probable cause" or "the reasonable and fact-based belief that a crime has been committed" when arresting someone on misdemeanor or felony charges.
“The determination is not made just based off of pulling a person off the street,” said author Rep. Garrett Bascom, R-Lawrenceburg. Instead, he said later, it’s “made primarily on the lack of the identification when the officer is checking that.”
Still, Chris Daley, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, warns that the bill would be “incredibly confusing" for line officers to enforce, and "because of that, they’re going to rely back on the issues that we’re all concerned about, with racial and linguistic profiling.”
Read more in the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
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