‘No Place to Hide’: Trapped on the Border, Immigrants Fear Deportation
The New York Times
Undocumented immigrants whose children or spouses are U.S. citizens are feeling particularly vulnerable to President-elect Donald J. Trump’s threats to push them out.
For the last quarter of a century, Maria’s version of the American dream has been confined to a small corner of South Texas, tucked between the border with Mexico and a fortified Border Patrol checkpoint 77 miles north.
Maria, the mother of two U.S.-born teenagers who crossed illegally from Mexico in 1998, is one of thousands of unauthorized immigrants who have long lived in a netherworld along the Texas border, tied to family members who are citizens but trapped in an unusual part of the country where, without legal immigration documents, it is all but impossible for them to stray far from their adopted hometowns.
Now, with President-elect Donald J. Trump’s vow to begin mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, many of those living with American family members along the border fear that they will be easy targets.
Border Patrol agents are legally able to make arrests within 100 miles of the border, but in the past they have generally not targeted families like Maria’s — a situation that could swiftly change. Adding to the families’ concerns, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has offered the use of the Texas National Guard and state law enforcement officers to aid any immigration roundups. His land commissioner, Dawn Buckingham, has also offered land along the Texas border, only a few miles from where Maria lives, to serve as a staging site.
“Before Trump got elected, we always felt scared but knew we could do things to avoid being noticed,” said Maria, who did not want her last name published for fear of drawing the authorities’ attention. “Now we feel that once he takes office, dangers are everywhere. There is no place to hide.”
For generations, members of these mixed-status families — where at least one parent is undocumented and caring for children who are legal U.S. residents or citizens — have blended into the Latino-majority communities in this part of Texas. American border towns have long held strong ties to the Mexican side, and immigrants with legal documents cross the international border with the same ease that a person from Manhattan travels to Brooklyn.
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