As reported in the news and by witnesses sharing on social media, masked ICE agents have been detaining people of color regardless of their immigration status or criminal record in streets and neighborhoods across America. Many people have been caught off guard and whisked away to a distant detention center where the likelihood of getting any kind of legal assistance becomes almost impossible.
This sudden detainment leaves their family, jobs, finances, and homes in jeopardy. Any responsibilities toward other family members who may be very young, elderly, disabled, or ill will not be met. They would not be able to work at their jobs and may lose them as a result. Disruptions in paying for rent, insurance, utilities, credit cards and other debts, and food would be catastrophic.
I am thinking about all of this because even though I am a law-abiding, tax-paying immigrant who is a U.S. citizen without a criminal record, I am still a person of color. The racial profiling that informs ICE’s actions easily makes me a target.
ICE detentions have been increasing in Tennessee, and the media have documented how the activity is primarily aimed at violating people’s rights rather than deporting “criminals.”
Of course, there is a chance that I will not be detained, and I am truly hopeful for this. However, I would rather be prepared than caught off guard.
In case this is helpful to anyone out there, here is a list of actions I am taking to prepare for any kind of detainment by ICE detention.
- In addition to my driver’s license, I will always carry with me a notarized copy of my U.S. passport. I also have photos of it on my phone.
- On my phone, I have my partner’s phone number and the Music City Migra Watch on speed dial.
- Whenever I head out of the house alone in my car, I tell my partner where I will be going and make plans to check in with him periodically.
- I have identified emergency contacts and memorized their phone numbers.
- All my official documents are in a safe and accessible place that my partner can access. This includes my social security card, U.S. passport, U.S. citizenship certificate, college diploma, and marriage certificate.
- Along with these documents is a list of bills that need to be paid on a monthly basis with instructions for paying at least the minimum payments to keep them in good standing.
- My partner has a list of people and their contact information who need to be reached immediately if I am detained.
- My partner will send out an announcement and further updates on this WPR newsletter if anything happens.
If I am detained, this is the protocol that will be followed:
- The Music City Migra Watch (https://www.instagram.com/musiccitymigrawatch/) and and the Tennessee Immigrant Rights and Refugee Coalition (https://www.tnimmigrant.org) will be contacted to obtain legal advice and help with locating my whereabouts.
- Everyone everywhere will be put on notice to make calls on my behalf to set me free. The sooner this happens, the better, while I am being held within the city limits of Nashville. If they decide to send me to a facility in another state, getting me released will be exponentially more difficult.
- All outlets, including social media and Signal threads, will be utilized.
I sincerely hope nothing happens, but if something does, please know that I am deeply grateful to anyone who can advocate on my behalf.
I honestly hate that I even have to make these plans, but this is one of the few things I actually have any control over. As such, it eases the constant low-grade anxiety I have been feeling both for myself and my family.
I was recently in a training session that my partner helped organize on the draconian new legislation in Tennessee known as the PEACE Act, during which a presenter, a lawyer and elected official—and Black immigrant and U.S. citizen—mentioned that he does not leave his house without his passport anymore.
And the media have recently exposed how scary, racist, and dangerous ICE has been in Tennessee. See, for example, this recent Mother Jones article:
Tennessee Said Yes to ICE—and Turned Into a Deportation State
The reality is that ICE will be expanding its operations across the country, and in my state in which a Republican super-majority calls all the shots, they will have more resources at their disposal to do what they will.
So then, I prepare for the worst.
All the while, hoping and wishing for the best.
