DC-area immigrants face challenges under Trump administration
President Donald Trump s return to the White House brought along a sweeping immigration crackdown when he reported he would deport the worst of the worst That pledge has led to raids and arrests by U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents including multiple people at this moment detained with no criminal convictions According to a Department of Homeland Guard review in September over million people have been deported or willingly left the United States since Trump s inauguration A Pew Research Center analysis determined that as of June of the U S labor force were immigrants down from with Trump s anti-immigrant actions becoming a main factor for the drop Those actions have brought fear and anxiety to the immigrant communities throughout the nation WTOP spoke with members of the D C region s immigrant population for their feedback on Trump s moves against immigrants and how the area has responded Finding work Jos arrived in the United States from Mexico in He s been living in the D C region for over a year working either for companies in plumbing-related jobs or for the Workers Co-op Without Borders through CASA one of the largest immigration rights organizations in the country While he has been able to find work Jos informed WTOP he knows several of his friends and co-workers are struggling to make ends meet I have heard that for a multitude of people jobs are scarce because of what s happening Jos revealed in Spanish Yet the latest leadership shutdown is affecting Jos and others as work has dried up A lot of the work the companies got was from executive workers Jos declared And now they don t want to spend Risks of being profiled Cesar Garzon a naturalized citizen from Venezuela works for a worker-owned landscaping company the Swamp Rose Co-op based out of Silver Spring Maryland He mentioned while the economic outlook led to particular cancellations he and his gang have remained busy with steady work for the last eight months However Garzon admitted it has been harder to find people who can help provide an additional hand There has been a reducing workforce Garzon disclosed A lot of people have kind of decided to either leave or they re just not working With the current political context Garzon declared he and his co-workers established specific strategies in situation they are wrongly identified during a attainable interaction with an ICE agent including setting up a contact person We face the risks of being profiled and of subject that s not fun Garzon announced New skills to find new jobs Lindolfo Carballo senior director of the locality economic progress department for CASA explained WTOP that he has seen an uptick in immigrants applying for jobs at the organization s job centers However he has also seen an increase in immigrants attempting to learn skills for different types of work But there is still particular fear in the area Carballo mentioned the Trump administration s continued actions are making it challenging for employers to hire workers and for workers to find jobs The truth of the matter is that there is a need for workers he declared It s a very large need of workers Carballo encourages those immigrants who are still in the U S to continue fighting for their rights We need to fight back Carballo noted We need to be resilient We need to stand up for our rights and of lesson right now it s very challenging But we know that we will overcome The Associated Press contributed to this description Source
