Sawt Falasteen - 'So much anxiety': Trump migrant crackdown vow stirs fear in NY

Panic is spreading among undocumented migrants and their supporters in the United States following Trump's return to the White House and the Democratic mayor of New York's alignment with the Republican president on the issue of migration.

"I'm afraid, like all immigrants, because we don't know what's going to happen to us," said nurse Virguez, 42, who recently arrived from Venezuela.

"I hide when I see police officers."

He joined the February protest against ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who are uniformly known as "la migra" among Spanish-speaking migrants.

He stood well back from the police lines, his face hidden by a thick black covering.

The melting pot city of 8.3 million people has seen an inflow of 232,000 migrants since 2022, and migrant advocacy groups accuse the mayor of abandoning its status as a sanctuary city.

Sanctuary city status means that local officials, including the police, do not routinely cooperate with national immigration enforcement operations, and provide other relief to undocumented migrants.

In a stark break with his past positions, Mayor Eric Adams has raised the prospect of immigration officers returning to the city's largest prison complex, Rikers Island.

He has also warned that churches, hospitals and schools -- previously spared from immigration raids under a memo protecting sensitive locations that Trump tore up -- should not obstruct officers.

"With this new president... we are always with that fear on our minds that they are going to stop us to ask us for documents or... look for undocumented people like me," said Victor who was living in a church that offers shelter to people in his situation.

- 'Time to prepare' -

At the entrance of Manhattan's Trinity Lutheran Church, a sign taped to a gate announces that "law enforcement, ICE and DHS cannot enter without a warrant signed by a judge."

"Repeal of the sensitive space memo has hit our congregants," said pastor Alyssa Kaplan who added "there's so much anxiety" among those using the church against a backdrop of visceral anti-migrant rhetoric.

"The veil of respect for those places is gone."

"He'll bark if they come," Pastor Alicia said jokingly, petting the church dog, a black Labrador.

"We are in a good position here with the (camera) doorbell and the gate, it gives us time to prepare."

In a sign of mounting fear, migrant associations have been deluged by requests for "bust cards" -- legal crib sheets in 19 languages to which undocumented migrants can refer if they stopped by officers.

One symptom of the fear in the community has been a jump in migrant children missing school, warns Yari Michel, a Brooklyn teacher and member of the United Federation of Teachers.

"Our kids need to know... what to do if ICE shows up at home, what to do if they're approached in the streets," said Michel who helped start a local collective supporting migrants.

She suggested that Trump's move to drop corruption charges against Adams was "in exchange for Adams to let ICE carry out mass deportations un-interfered."

Adams has denied that, saying Monday that New York remains a sanctuary city.

Despite Trump's visceral language on deportations, there has not yet been the promised waves of mass round-ups.

Levels remain similar to under former president Joe Biden when thousands of undocumented migrants were also deported.

But anxiety is up, with Amy Vazquez, a 21-year-old Mexican-American telling AFP that she had to become the head of her household in case her undocumented parents were caught up in raids.

"When Trump went into office, that's when the fear really started hitting," she said.

Her parents, a waitress and a Mexican carpenter who have been living in New York for 20 years, put everything in her name.

"(They are) making sure that if anything were to happen, I have custody of my little sister" -- as well as control of the family's affairs, she said.

Many in the Latino community report that they have stopped venturing out.

"I don't want to wake up one day and then come home from school and they're not there," she said tearfully.

S.Abdullah--SF-PST