DENVER — As President Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office, immigrants and advocates are worried about the potential of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the Denver metro area.
Throughout his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised he would tackle the immigration crisis through mass deportations. An incoming White House official told the Associated Press that Trump would issue a series of executive orders aimed at remaking America’s immigration policies, ending asylum access, sending troops to the southern border and ending birthright citizenship.
Federal immigration officers plan to target more than 300 people with histories of egregious, violent crimes in the coming days, according to the AP. The operation will be concentrated in the Chicago area, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because plans have not been made public. Arrests are expected all week.
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Denver business owner Alejandro Flores-Muñoz came to the United States as a child. He told Denver7 that watching the inauguration on Monday was bittersweet.
"I am thankful for the city and county of Denver, who have been very welcoming to immigrants," he said. " I, as an immigrant and a DACA recipient, I am weary of Donald Trump's promises in regards to immigration. He has been very hard-line about what he plans to do."
“So for me, I am in a way where I'm feeling like I need to be in a defense mode, figuring out how I can empower myself, but at the same time, empower our community to make sure that we're our rights are not being trampled," Flores-Muñoz added.
Denver immigration attorney Arturo Jimenez said immigrants must become aware of their rights and consider their citizenship options. He said anyone questioned by law enforcement, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has the right to ask for an attorney and hearing with a judge.
"One of the things people can do to be more prepared [is] they should find out what their options are with immigration. It's not necessarily their rights, but the ability to apply and ask for benefits based on their individual situation," Jimenez said. "People in any situation with law enforcement have a right to just identify themselves, but otherwise to not say too much, not give a lot of information."
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Chloe East, a professor at the University of Colorado Denver, said though the possibility of large-scale operations in the area seems unlikely, the community could expect to see smaller-scale raids more quickly, much like the ones during the first Trump administration.
"One thing that's important to note is mass deportations on the scale that Trump has talked about are not feasible, given existing resources to ICE and other agencies. Just in a practical sense, there are not even enough detention beds to do mass deportations on the scale of a million or more people," East said. "We know from the first Trump administration that workplace raids were a common tool they used, and they often targeted manufacturing companies, including food manufacturing. That was a common target."
Jimenez said the Denver metro area could expect to see more enforcement locally in the near future.
"A little bit more raids. We can expect more checkpoint stops," he said. "I would just say that people shouldn't panic. They should just prepare and be ready."
"I think lots of people are sort of waiting to see what happens in the next week or so," East added.
As Flores-Munoz waits to see what happens, he said he's focusing on what matters most to him.
“What I'm doing, personally, as a small business owner, is that I want to just continue to expand and grow my small business because that's my security. That's where I feel safe," he said. “I think that as we go into a new presidency with Donald Trump, we have to remind ourselves that we have rights, including even if you are an immigrant in this country, that there are protections.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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