Protestors hold a banner for Immigrant rights during a Nov. 6, 2024, march in New Orleans. (John Gray/Verite News)
Thomas had just gone through training from a group called Ojos, or “eyes” in Spanish, on looking out for and documenting ICE and police interactions with immigrants. She and her sister drove to the school to find out whether or not ICE agents had been present on campus. She learned it was Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies that had shown up, not federal immigration agents. .
She recorded herself letting people know: “Despejado, all clear.” Then she posted it to local immigrant rights group Unión Migrante’s Facebook page.
“As an ally, we want you here, you are loved and we will do everything to keep you safe,” Thomas said in the video. “I also have a message for ICE. You do not get to move in the shadows. We see you, we know what you’re up to and we will record you.”
As the Trump administration and state government entities have increased their commitments to arrest, detain and deport migrants, local immigrant activists and their allies have boosted their efforts to educate members of the community about their rights.
In New Orleans, members of Unión Migrante have partnered with local churches, schools and organizations to host five in-person and virtual teach-ins so far this year, sharing information about the sessions on Instagram.
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Unión Migrante member Rachel Taber said the group had for years offered opportunities for immigrants to learn about vital guidance, such as what to do if ICE officers knock on your door and attempt an arrest. (The answer: Ask for a warrant signed by a federal judge.)
According to Taber, the group boosted educational efforts during the first Trump administration, when the president’s family separation policy – which authorized immigration enforcement officials to separate children from parents or guardians who they entered the U.S. with – was ongoing in 2017 and 2018 .
They are holding more of them again during his second administration, but the frequency of the meetings actually began to ramp up before Trump took office, Taber said, because of the Trump-like rhetoric that has been coming out of Baton Rouge since Gov. Jeff Landry took office last year.
Shorty after he was inaugurated in early 2024, Landry issued an executive order aimed at quantifying the cost that undocumented immigrants place on public services. In May, Landry signed a bill, sponsored by state Senator Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, into law that bans parishes and municipalities from adopting “sanctuary policies.”
Such local policies are designed to prohibit local law enforcement officials from participating in federal immigration enforcement. Now, local agencies must comply with requests from federal agencies, like ICE, to detain someone until they can be taken into federal custody.
“We started really ramping them up since the governor started attacking immigrant communities,” Taber said. “There’s been more interest both from impacted members and from our supporters.”
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Taber said the idea of additional collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE is a major concern among Unión Migrante members. The New Orleans Police Department and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office are both under federal orders that restrict them from investigating alleged immigration violations directly, though state Attorney General Liz Murrill has sued the latter agency over its policy.
Members of Unión Migrante worry that other law enforcement agencies in the state with less federal oversight will arrest undocumented immigrants who they encounter during traffic stops and transfer them into ICE custody.
After the Trump administration authorized immigration enforcement agents to enter churches, schools and hospitals, Taber said Unión Migrante has seen increased interest from local religious, educational and health care organizations to educate their communities on immigrants rights.
On Feb. 12, the United Teachers of New Orleans — the city’s teachers’ union — co-hosted a virtual “know your rights” teach-in with Unión Migrante on Facebook in Spanish. Along with sharing information on what to do in interactions with immigration enforcement officers, UTNO members assured viewers that there had not been any ICE activity on New Orleans’ school campuses, educated them on a federal law that protects students’ records and shared at least one school’s policy regarding ICE presence on school property. Taber said the video has received more than 12,000 views.
“A wave of panic is spreading through immigrant communities, especially in families with children in our schools,” a message posted on the UTNO website said. “Teachers within our union have been fiercely organizing at their schools to ensure students and families know they have their backs.”
Some people who are not vulnerable to immigration enforcement, like Thomas, who is a U.S. citizen, have attended a different training through Ojos on how to hold ICE agents and police officers accountable during encounters with immigrants. Taber, who also volunteers with Ojos, said those gatherings have drawn so many people that only standing room has been available in the hosting venues.
“We have thousands of people interested to film ICE to ensure that people aren’t unnecessarily separated from their families” Taber said.
“We’re gonna expose their faces on social media and they’re not gonna be able to get a drink or a date on Tinder in this town without people hating them for doing the cruel work that they do.”
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Representatives for the New Orleans ICE field office did not respond to requests for comment from Verite News.
Since joining Ojos, Thomas said group members have been deployed multiple times to document reported immigration enforcement activity. In most instances, she said, members arrive after the suspected threat is over and talk to people in the area to make sure reports of ICE activity can be confirmed as fears are high.
“Oftentimes fear and anxiety [can be] the primary thing heard and felt and even when ICE has not been confirmed as present, word spreads that it has,” Thomas said. “It’s really important that allies know that we should not share reports of ICE [activity] until things have been confirmed and corroborated by Ojos members and by Unión Migrante leadership.”
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This article first appeared on Verite News New Orleans and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.