Category: Immigration

Immigration crackdown produces fear among students

League of Women Voters hosts community conversation on immigration and criminal justice
by ChicoSol staff | Posted October 26, 2025
Maitreya Badami, center, speaks as fellow panelists Juan Araujo (left) and LeAnn Jenswold listen. Photo by ChicoSol.

Maitreya Badami, an associate professor at Chico State, talked during an Oct. 25 panel presentation about the fear that is affecting student life on campus.

“There definitely is an atmosphere of fear among our Latino students, whether they are citizens or non-citizens,” said Badami, an associate professor in the political science and criminal justice department. “They’re not participating in activities that they would otherwise. I am talking to citizens and folks with green cards, lawful permanent residents, not to mention our DACA students who have this temporary protection that could be gone at any moment. They’re terrified.”

DACA status refers to people who have temporary protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Immigrants with legal status can become vulnerable in the crackdown underway because of past convictions, political activity or for other reasons. read more

Butte County responds to immigration crackdown

Sheriff's Office ends alternative custody for some immigrant inmates
by Leslie Layton | Posted October 24, 2025
Walnut grower Tom Bush protests at No Kings 2 in Chico.

When immigration officers helicoptered into Chico in August, a network of volunteers was prepared. When the officers slipped out before dawn the next morning, they left people with both relief and lingering questions, according to NorCal Resist Chico.

NorCal Resist volunteers say they don’t know whether the officers were merely stopping in Chico on their way somewhere, or whether attention from protesters dissuaded them from taking enforcement actions that they might have preferred to be surprise.

Regardless, the visit showed the role that community preparation can play in view of immigration raids that have produced both violent as well as quiet disruptions to communities across the country. NorCal Resist says that community response is critical as Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramps up with a larger budget. read more

North State man leaves grieving family in accepting deportation

Harrowing journey to Mexico leaves him with nightmares
by Leslie Layton | Posted September 26, 2025
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers arrest a migrant in the state of Virginia. Image via Flickr.

(This story is part of an occasional series on the impact of the immigration crackdown on North State families.)

Picture this: It’s a hot day in the North State in early July, and after a 3 p.m. meeting with an attorney, a Glenn County personal trainer stops at a gas station to fill his tank. Suddenly, several vehicles including a Ford Explorer pull up around him. Eight men surround him and tell him he’s under arrest.

That’s roughly how the terrible odyssey back to Mexico began for a Chico-area man who opted for deportation after an interview at Redding’s Immigration, Customs & Enforcement (ICE) sub-field office. ICE gave him a couple of options, neither of which sounded good: Spend what might be years in an overcrowded detention cell or deport. read more

Domestic violence survivors face new barriers

Immigrants suffering partner abuse afraid to go to court
by Natalie Hanson | Posted September 26, 2025
Attorney Weibel: People like Padilla may fear seeking help. Photo courtesy of ACoM.

For abuse survivors like Juana Padilla, nonprofit organizations can be a lifeline amid heightened threats of federal enforcement actions which sometimes lead to deportation.

Padilla, a woman who suffered domestic abuse in Southern California, told a recent American Community Media (ACoM) panel that the Survivor Justice Center in Los Angeles helped her get protection for herself and her Mexican-born children. The children are now here legally and getting the treatment they needed, she said.

“I was afraid to even say that I was abused,” Padilla said. “Especially when your husband is ex-military and they put in your head that you have nobody. I would call the police and they would come to my house and see his uniform …. and say everything is fine, and leave.” read more

Immigrant data-sharing threatens privacy of all Americans

"Digital watchtower" -- system of surveillance -- expands
by Selen Ozturk/American Community Media | Posted September 14, 2025

Lea en español en ACoM aqui.

The federal expansion of immigrant surveillance is increasing political targeting, identity theft and data breach risks for all Americans.

The second Trump administration has raised alarm from experts that government use of personal data under the banner of fighting fraud, stopping crime or detecting undocumented immigrants — including an immigrant name and address data-sharing agreement between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — could threaten the privacy rights of residents nationwide, including citizens.

Last May, a federal judge denied a preliminary injunction against such data-sharing between DHS, the IRS and Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE); this effectively greenlit the first-ever time the IRS formally agreed to provide taxpayer information for immigration enforcement under a memorandum of understanding. read more

The Hidden Cost of Trump’s Deportation Agenda

‘Education Chaos and Psychological Scarring’
by Peter Schurmann, ACoM | Posted September 9, 2025
Classroom
L.A. Unified Supt. Alberto Carvalho with students in a science classroom. Photo courtesy of American Community Media & LAUSD.

On Aug. 11, masked agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) handcuffed and pointed their guns at a disabled 15-year-old while he waited for his mom to pick him up from school in Arleta, California. On Aug. 8, ICE arrested Benjamin Guerrero Cruz as he walked his dog in Van Nuys, days before the 18-year-old was set to begin his senior year of high school.

These are just two in a string of examples of ICE’s aggressive implementation of the Trump Administration’s mass deportation agenda, an approach experts say is traumatizing kids and families and sending a chill through school communities across the country.

“This back-to-school season, children are facing the terror of wondering if their parents will be there to pick them up,” said America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cardenas during an Aug. 28 virtual briefing. “The usual first day jitters have been replaced by fear.” read more