Members of pro-immigration group hit by Trump crackdown on immigration

Subscribe to The Y’all — a weekly dispatch about the people, places and policies defining Texas, produced by Texas Tribune journalists living in communities across the state.

SAN JUAN — Yenniffer England stood behind a podium at the offices of La Union Del Pueblo Entero dressed in business attire and sporting one striking accessory — an ankle monitor.

A certified nursing assistant and mother of two, England had spent three months at an immigration detention center despite her status as a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. The Obama-era policy is meant to protect immigrants who arrived in the country as children from deportation and grants them a work permit. However, hundreds of DACA recipients have been arrested since President Donald Trump returned to office. England is also a member of LUPE, a community nonprofit organization that provides education and resources to immigrants and low-income communities in the Rio Grande Valley. The group advocated for England’s release, which a federal judge granted last week.

However, England is just one of several LUPE members who have been personally impacted by enhanced immigration enforcement policies. Four LUPE members have been detained or deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and more than 20 others have had their DACA status lapse because of application processing delays, said Tania Chavez Camacho, president and executive director of LUPE.

Cases like theirs have had a chilling effect on LUPE’s more than 8,000 members — a mix of U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents and undocumented immigrants — possibly affecting the group’s ability to forcefully enact change within their community. Chavez Camacho worries many aren’t showing up for the organizations’ events due to fear that they’ll be stopped by police and possibly end up in ICE custody.

Chavez Camacho expressed concern over the fate of those members and the community at large following a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, on the impacts of immigration enforcement on the community.

Released from detention while she appeals her case, England is constantly afraid that ICE will detain her again at any moment since they’re able to track her location through her ankle monitor. Other LUPE members are hesitant to show up to meetings and events, Chavez Camacho said, leading to a decrease in engagement, which is a major part of LUPE’s efforts to enact change. The group holds information sessions, rallies and demonstrations throughout the community. They also address lawmakers at city hall and at the state house in support or against policy.

“We continue to do the work but we can only continue to do the work if the community continues to show up,” she said.

During the roundtable, which was held behind closed doors, Padillo heard from some of those vulnerable LUPE members who the organization says are a reflection of what is happening in the community at-large because of the immigration crackdown under the Trump administration.

“We need more senators and elected officials who are willing to listen, who are willing to be part of the change of bringing accountability to ICE and CBP,” Chavez Camacho said. “DHS does not need more funding, what we need is solutions and congressional action to ensure that DACA recipients and other immigrants get relief from deportation.”

Padilla acknowledged there was broad support for a secure border despite disagreement on how to achieve that. But the impacts on immigrants who are in the country lawfully, like DACA recipients or farmworkers, often fall under the radar.

“There has to be a better way,” said Padilla, a ranking member of the senate judiciary subcommittee on immigration, citizenship and border safety.

For its members who’ve had their DACA status lapse, LUPE is providing them with cash assistance to pay for groceries since their DACA-provided work permit is no longer valid, leaving them without the ability to work legally.

Through visits from lawmakers like Padilla, Chavez Camacho said she hopes first-hand accounts from individuals affected by enforcement can be heard.

“These are the stories that we hear at LUPE every day, these are the stories of our LUPE members, these are the stories that represent the broader community of South Texas,” she said.

Chavez Camacho said she has witnessed increased enforcement at airports first-hand and said increased collaboration between the Texas Department of Public Safety and federal immigration officials has made people nervous.

England’s case served as an example of how that collaboration could play out. In February, she was detained by ICE following a traffic stop. She had been driving with an expired license, but her attorneys and advocates say the incident should have resulted in no more than a routine traffic violation because of her active status as a DACA recipient.

“We are experiencing a different Rio Grande Valley,” Chavez Camacho said.

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.