Immigrant community members in San José are concerned for their safety after seeing various policy changes under President Donald J. Trump that targets immigrants and multiple ICE sightings in San José.
On Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order to secure his plan to detain and remove all “aliens” who enter or remain in violation of federal law and to stop immigrants from entering the U.S., according to a webpage from The White House.
This includes placing criminal charges against “illegal aliens” who violate immigration laws and those who support these individuals, according to the White House.
“Dani,” a fourth-year education student at San José State who opted to use a pseudonym because of concerns for her safety, said she doesn’t feel safe anymore as an undocumented student.
Dani said her parents brought her to the U.S. when she was 1-year-old because they wanted her to have a chance to go to college.
“They didn’t feel safe back in Mexico,” Martinez said. “They saw what the cartels were doing and they just wanted me to have a better education.”
UndocuSpartans, a resource center at SJSU that supports students who have immigration concerns, provides legal services for no charge to students, recent alumni, employees and their immediate families, according to the center’s webpage.
These legal services are provided by the CSU system through the Immigration Legal Defense, a non-profit agency focused on providing legal services specialized in immigration, according to the same source.
Between 2019 and 2023, the Immigration Legal Defense provided one-on-one consultations to 806 individuals at SJSU, including 525 students, 17 faculty or staff members, 220 family members and 44 alumni, according to data collected by the non-profit.
Dani has been speaking to her professors about her concerns for her personal safety.
“I don't feel as safe anymore, because I feel like I always have to look behind my shoulder to make sure nothing's gonna happen to me or to other students,” she said.
SJSU Responds
On Jan. 20, Benjamine Huffman, acting secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, issued two directives related to immigration, according to a webpage from the department.
The first directive rescinds old guidelines from the Biden Administration that restricted ICE agents from entering “sensitive” areas, according to the department.
“Sensitive” areas included schools, houses of worship, hospitals, funerals, weddings and public demonstrations, according to a Jan. 22 article from ABC News.
Rafael Alvarez, the commander for UPD’s operations bureau, said it is protocol for UPD officers to avoid all possible interactions with ICE.All CSU universities do not have the authority to prohibit federal immigration enforcement officers from entering their campus to public areas if their purpose is to enforce federal law, according to an FAQ from the CSU that was sent to staff and faculty members on Wednesday.
“We don't want to participate. We're not going to participate,” Alvarez said. “It's actually against our policy to assist and provide immigration any information whatsoever.”
Alvarez said it is a common courtesy for outside law enforcement agencies to notify UPD when they will step onto university property, but this is not legally required.
Ana Navarette, a program director for UndocuSpartans, said her department at SJSU helps undocumented students connect with different resources, including Santa Clara County’s Rapid Response Network, the county’s Office of Immigrant Relations and legal services.
Navarette said UndocuSpartans and SJSU never have a list of who is undocumented on campus.
“If (we) are subpoenaed down the line, (we) don't have those lists to be able to provide that (information of who is undocumented) for (ICE),” Navarette said
Campus police officers will also not contact, detail, question or arrest an individual solely on the suspicion of an individual’s immigration status, according to the same FAQ.
This includes not collaborating with immigration enforcement authorities to investigate, detail or arrest individuals for violation of federal immigration law, according to the same source.
Alvarez said UPD will never stop campus community members from peacefully assembling and protesting, but he hopes students, staff and faculty members will also avoid having any escalated interactions with ICE.
UPD may be called in to interact with ICE in order to prevent injuries or property damage, according to the FAQ.
“For students, I would hope that (interactions between students and ICE) wouldn't turn rambunctious — for lack of better words — where students want to all of a sudden protest and get up in their face and things like that,” Alvarez said. “That would cause more safety concerns.”
ICE in San José
Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who represents District 5 in East Side San José, said he received around 30 calls from parents and children asking for the city for help after the Santa Clara County’s Rapid Response Network confirmed there were two ICE sightings in San José.
On Sunday and Monday, the network confirmed that ICE officers stopped at two shopping plazas in East Side San José, according to a Jan. 28 article previously reported by the Spartan Daily.
Ortiz, who was at the scene when volunteers from the network witnessed ICE detain a female Colombian on Sunday afternoon, said the parking lot was empty for a few hours after the officers left the location.
“The community was in shock and frightened,” Ortiz said. “I know that this is going to make people stay home. They're not going to go out . . . They're not gonna go outside because they're scared.”
Officers from the San José Police Department and city employees are not allowed to assist ICE in arresting a person solely based on their immigration status, according to a memorandum that was passed by City Hall on Jan. 15.
Concerns from San Jose’s youth
Norma Citlali Martinez, a coordinator for Jóvenes Activos, said she thinks those who believe ICE is a good thing should focus on who is being targeted and taken away.
“If you see ICE as a good thing, I think you're focusing on the main message of, ‘We are just targeting criminals,’ and you're not looking into who is being taken away, who is being targeted, who is afraid and how it's affecting people,” Martinez said. “I encourage everyone to have an open mind and to not just focus on one thing, but (to) look into the whole picture”
Jóvenes Activos is a youth-led program at SOMOS Mayfair, an organization that supports working families with the goal of addressing systemic inequities, according to its website.
The program aims to build youth leadership by teaching members to organize and support issues in the local community, including demanding equitable distribution of county and city resources for families, according to another webpage from SOMOS Mayfair.
Martinez said youth members at SOMOS Mayfair have shared that they are afraid of ICE.
She said some youth members have shared they want to return to remote learning and go back to taking classes on Zoom.
“They are afraid that they can't even learn in peace, that they could just be sitting, learning, trying their best, struggling and ICE could just come in at any moment and take them and start searching,” Martinez said.
Dani said it is very terrifying and upsetting for her to hear that ICE is allowed to enter schools to detain immigrants.
She said she is afraid of being targeted even though she has never committed a crime.
“They're targeting (immigrants who have committed crimes), but they're also going to target me no matter what, and other students from other ethnicities as well,” Dani said.
