NE immigrant advocates seek to reignite ‘rapid response teams’ in case of crackdowns or crisis

LINCOLN — It happened 18 years ago, but Steve Joel and Yolanda Nuncio said Saturday they clearly recall the drug-sniffing dogs, helicopters and immigration agents converging on their town’s meatpacking plant. 

The two Grand Island officials — he was the school superintendent at the time and she was a state administrator — saw more than 250 suspected undocumented workers arrested.

People were scrambling to escape.

Empty school seats followed. Some businesses closed.

“It was horrible,” said Nuncio, a Grand Island resident who at the time oversaw the central part of the state for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. “We were not prepared for a raid of that magnitude, or for the effects it had on the community.” 

Rapid response teams

That 2006 enforcement operation got advocates thinking about better ways communities should respond, particularly when children are separated from parents, Nuncio said. Strategies later gelled and rapid response teams kicked into action, for instance, after a 2018 high-profile probe during which 133 workers in and around O’Neill, Neb., were detained. 

But in recent years, Nuncio said, those efforts have been largely dormant.

On Saturday, participants of a five-hour summit organized by Las Voces Nebraska agreed to work more closely together to update plans and reignite community teams to quickly respond to immigration-related crackdowns or crisis situations.

Motivating them is the amplification of border security discussions and a pledge by former President Donald Trump to launch America’s largest mass deportation if he is elected president in November, said Marty Ramirez, co-founder of Las Voces, a Latino advocacy network.

“There is anxiety,” Ramirez said. “It’s like a hurricane. It’s coming. It’s coming. What do we do when it hits?”

A few dozen people, including Nuncio and Joel, tuned in to the online conference from communities across the state to discuss whether or how various groups and cities are preparing. Ramirez, of Lincoln, said a goal is to be armed with local and statewide protocols for disruptions that could range from shootings to raids.

Experts from the statewide American Civil Liberties Union and the Immigrant Legal Center spoke about growing efforts to educate Nebraskans about their rights.

Administrators from Omaha and Lincoln public schools spoke about their preparedness plans.

Paul Gausman, superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools, for example, described the district’s two sites that are set up to provide shelter and other services to students during emergencies, including reuniting kids with parents or guardians.

Nebraska Appleseed’s Ruby Mendez Lopez said her organization created a “bare bones” response flow chart for communities in the aftermath of the O’Neill-focused immigration operations.

She told the group that at least two Nebraska towns — Crete and North Platte — have started to develop their plans, identifying contacts and procedures tailored to local needs.

“They want to be prepared,” she said.

The toughest part of a rapid response plan, Mendez Lopez said, is getting buy-in from local government officials who could ease the execution of such plans.

Olga Guevera of Unity in Action in South Sioux City said her community started discussing a rapid response strategy not long after the O’Neill arrests — but then COVID-19 hit in early 2020, and efforts were “put on the back burner.”

“I feel we’re not prepared.  A lot of us feel in the same boat,” she said.

Joel, more recently retired as superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools, was superintendent of Grand Island Public Schools at the time of the 2006 raid, which was part of a national Swift and Company federal investigation that detained from six different plants about 1,300 workers accused of immigration and identity theft violations.

“You can imagine the fear that was permeating the entire city of Grand Island,” Joel told summit participants.

Educators tried to reinforce to families that the district’s priority was to keep children safe, Joel said, and “slowly but surely” kids from immigrant families returned to classes.

He said he witnessed other unexpected acts as well. The first person who walked into his office with a financial donation to help families came from a man who previously had made clear his negative view of illegal immigration. 

Joel said that when he reacted with surprise, the man said: I’m a dad, too.

Now retired, Joel described the effects of the Dec. 12 raid as both a highlight and lowlight of his professional career. He believes the overall response “reinforces that communities will push back” on large-scale deportation activities.

Guevara and others said they look forward to collaborating with other agencies and areas on response strategies.

Ben Salazar of Omaha, who helped coordinate the summit, said he foresees the formation of a coalition to help communities create concrete action plans.

“This is a giant step today,” he said.

Ramirez hopes for involvement from government officials and more Latino advocacy groups. Religious representatives spoke during the summit and offered continued support.

Ramirez said he expects an uphill battle from Nebraska’s congressional delegation and certain state leaders.

He was pleased that the summit helped point out needs.

“We’ve got to keep pushing,” Ramirez said.