Pro-immigrant advocates organizing, ready to push back on Trump deportation policies

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Saturday, November 9, 2024 2:50AM
Advocates ready to push back on Trump deportation policies
Advocates ready to push back on Trump deportation policiesPresident-elect Donald Trump ran on immigration as one of his key issues, vowing to do mass deportations starting on day one.

President Elect Donald Trump ran on immigration as one of his key issues, vowing to do mass deportations starting on day one.

Now that Trump has won the election, local immigration advocates say they are already organizing and ready to push back.

"I will govern by a simple motto: promises made, promises kept. We're going to keep our promises," said President-elect Trump.

Trump's main promise of his campaign was to deport millions of migrants living in the US without legal permission.

"On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history," says Trump.

The election results causing a wide range of emotions among the 1.8 million undocumented migrants living in California.

"It's never knowing, always feeling like we have to look over our shoulders, having to be careful with what we're doing," says Juan Jaimes.

At a rally Friday, Central Valley advocates say they are positioned to fight back on proposed Trump policies and are already mobilizing to protect immigrant families that may be impacted.

"We need to build our own networks of protections, not all the time we need the government to protect us. We have to protect each other," says Sarait Martinez, Executive Director, Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indigena Oaxaqueno.

Experts estimate Trumps plan would cost about $88 billion dollars to deport even 1 million migrants a year, but Trump has dismissed those concerns saying, "it's not a question of a price tag. it's not- really, we have no choice."

Legal experts are now trying to calm fearful immigrants saying new Trump policies could take time.

"There are logistical limitations on what the administration can do financially, there will be legal challenges to many of the proposals that come out, so we don't expect that everything he wants he's going to get are going to be able to do," says Allison Davenport, Senior Managing Attorney, Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

Several valley leaders are also now getting behind the movement, including the mayor of the city of Kerman.

Advocates are scaling up their services focusing on legal consultation, emotional support, and emergency preparedness.

They say their biggest uphill battle is ensuring undocumented migrants know their options.

"We all have certain rights, the right to remain silent if we have a contact with the law-enforcement official, the right to not open the door to our homes to law enforcement official, and due process rights to have our day in court, and to be represented by an attorney," says Davenport.

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