Large-scale immigration worksite raids: community disaster, community response

Immigration enforcement - or the surveillance, detention, and deportation of noncitizens - detrimentally impacts health, with spillover effects on the families of those targeted. However, less is known about how immigration enforcement impacts communities, regardless of the immigration statuses of m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of community practice 2024-01, Vol.32 (1), p.86-106
Main Authors: Lopez, William Daniel, Gudino, Juan, Shull, Tamara, Godinez, Gladys, Novak, Nicole Louise
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automobiles
Children
Community
deportation
Enforcement
Immigration
Immigration enforcement
Immigration policy
Latino
Noncitizens
Qualitative research
Raids
Schools
Social response
Surveillance
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Summary:Immigration enforcement - or the surveillance, detention, and deportation of noncitizens - detrimentally impacts health, with spillover effects on the families of those targeted. However, less is known about how immigration enforcement impacts communities, regardless of the immigration statuses of members. Immigration worksite raids can involve hundreds of agents, helicopters, and buses descending unannounced upon rural towns with small Latino populations and removing dozens of members in a day. This egregious enforcement tactic presents the opportunity to better understand how communities organize to mitigate the harm of these events. We conducted semistructured interviews in Spanish and English in six communities that experienced the largest worksite raids in 2018. Participants were 77 adults who provided material, emotional, or professional support following raids. We used qualitative analysis methods to code all interviews and develop a timeline characterizing raid impact and response. The day of the raid is characterized by chaos, confusion, and fear, which resulted in hiding out in churches and schools and supporting the children of those who disappeared. The days and weeks that followed were characterized by hunger, resulting in multiple strategies aimed at keeping the community fed, along with efforts to re-integrate children into schools. Months after, communities began to organize rideshares and finally address health concerns. We end with recommendations to mitigate the community-wide damage of worksite raids while advocating against their use.
ISSN:1070-5422
1543-3706
DOI:10.1080/10705422.2024.2311246