Camden residents confront city council over ICE enforcement fears

Since ICE raids have ramped up in Camden since last January, advocates and teachers have watched helplessly as students have missed school and parents have stopped going to work because they fear being arrested.

Month-after-month they’ve urged local lawmakers to take a stand against ICE.

On Tuesday, parents, advocates and teachers appeared at Camden’s City Council’s meeting to express their concerns about ICE targeting Camden’s Hispanic and immigrant community. They say city council members aren’t taking enough action to address ICE’s growing presence in Camden. Local lawmakers argue that if they publicly speak up against ICE, the city will face retaliation from the Trump administration.

“There’s nothing that’s being done by the city to protect its residents,” Damaris, a mother whose last name is being withheld to protect her identity, said. “It’s ridiculous to me that people have to live in fear.”

Starting 12 months ago, Kimberly Valle, director of programs and partnerships at ImmSchools — a nonprofit that works with immigrant children — has attended monthly meetings concerning ICE, she said.

These meetings have been held by Camden Council president Angel Fuentes, Valle said, adding that she and other advocates frequently asked him what the city was doing to ensure that members of the community were being kept safe.

Valle said at the minimum she would like to see city officials publicly condemn ICE like many mayors and council members have in cities across the state and the nation, like Newark mayor Ras Baraka.

Fuentes told Mosaic on Tuesday that, “There are people in the community, pastors, talking about for us to pass a resolution,” he said. “But if we do that we will put all of our 70,000 plus people in harm’s way. We need federal dollars to come to Camden.”

He added, “The moment we approve a resolution, Trump’s going to take immediate action through Homeland Security to stop any federal dollars or resources to come to the city. So that is not a good idea.”

But advocates and teachers say officials in other cities have spoken up, and want to see Camden lawmakers do the same.

One Camden teacher, whose name is being withheld to protect his identity, went up to express the fears his students face when they leave the classroom.

Over the past year, many of his students have missed school, and parents frequently call him asking where they can find food and financial resources because of the income they’ve lost from staying at home in fear of ICE agents.

“I tell my students that as long as they’re in this school there is nothing to worry about. I will do everything in my power to protect them,” he said.

His concerns stem from what could happen to students outside the classroom, “We need more plans for the community, for the students once they leave our supervision.”

In response to these concerns, Fuentes told him to work with ImmSchools. Fuentes also referenced a package of bills lawmakers passed on Monday aimed at further limiting cooperation between state and local agencies and immigration enforcement.

Valle expressed frustrations that Fuentes frequently referred individuals to ImmSchools.

Valle said the work by nonprofits like ImmSchools can only go so far and local officials need to help address the issue.

Valle added that the educators and parents who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting currently work with ImmSchools but showed up to speak to city council because “they need more answers and more support from the city.”

Ashley Estevez-Perez, founder of Movimiento Tricolor, a Camden-based organization that provides resources to city residents, agrees with Valle.

“The responsibility to provide clarity and reassurance cannot rest solely with community organizations or be deferred to higher levels of government,” Estevez-Perez said. “What’s needed now is concrete local action to ensure residents have trusted information and meaningful support.”

Valle said she already given Fuentes a step-by-step plan for what steps need to be taken to address ICE’s presence.

“I do feel disappointed and a bit frustrated because it’s something that is so simple,” she said.

Since President Donald Trump took office, Damaris, a 32-year-old Camden mother, has felt forced to coach her two young children on how to respond if they’re approached by immigration agents.

Even though she and her children are U.S. citizens, she no longer allows them to play outside, she told Mosaic. Damaris — whose last name is being withheld to protect her identity — fears that while she’s at work, her kids could still be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“It’s heartbreaking to have to explain to a child that because we’re Latino we basically can be targeted,” she said. “As a mother, to have to fear grown adults with masks and guns and vests being able to approach your child and basically not being able to do nothing about it. There’s no protection from it.”

Damaris called Fuentes to ask him what she can do to protect her children, she said. Fuentes suggested she give her children copies of their birth certificates to carry with them to show if they are approached by ICE, Damaris said.

Fuentes could not be reached for further comment.

“No child should be walking around with important documents,” she said. “The chosen representatives of the city are not really showing that they’re with their people, that they’re standing with their people or that they want to do something about it.”