Within our society, younger generations are becoming more and more outspoken, especially in America’s current discourse. This month, I spoke with students and teachers about their opinions about the recent events in Minnesota and the actions of ICE(Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Many powerful feelings, opinions, and views were expressed about this topic. I spoke with students Jovan Wellington and Sebastian Szurdoki, along with teachers Chris Chilas, Ben Foley, and María Ahmad Aparcicio.
In my interview with Jovan, he explained that he thought the concept of ICE was understandable, since they were trying to remove illegal immigrants that had or have committed crimes. However, he noted that their goal strongly differs from the events in Minnesota, as ICE agents are arresting U.S. citizens, and naturalized immigrants just to fill the quota that was placed by Washington. He made a strong point about the shooting of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, saying that ICE is now suppressing and undermining the constitutional rights of American Citizens. His advice for students to stand up and stay safe was to stand side by side with your neighbors, regardless of their immigration status, and if you are at risk for ICE showing up at your door, it’s important to know your rights to stay safe.
In my interview with Sebastian, his opinion on the concept of ICE was similar to that of Jovan’s, where the concept was okay. However, he agrees that their execution has gone horribly wrong and they are abusing the power they have to attack people. He explains that they claimed they were going to get rid of criminals, but a five-year-old is not a criminal, and they’re using only racial pretense to get rid of people even if they aren’t illegal. His advice for students to stay safe and speak up was to not respond with violence, since those who weren’t even being violent (Alex Pretti, Renee Good) ICE took as a threat and killed them. For people who have had ICE show up at their door and demand to come in, he explained they are not allowed to enter without a warrant. He emphasized to know your rights, and don’t try to be a hero, because then you’ll get shot, even if you didn’t have violent intentions.
In my interview with Dr Foley, he strongly disagreed with the existence of ICE, emphasizing that he didn’t agree with the immigration policy, and didn’t agree with the kidnapping of people off the street, or attacking people when they’re just protesting. He was strongly against the agents shooting and murdering those who were peacefully resisting (Renee Good and Alex Pretti). However, he expressed that he liked that citizens were coming together and keeping track of ICE officers and showing up to support each other and those who were being targeted by ICE and making them back down. It gave him hope that citizens can work together to fight a common enemy. This unity reminded him of the Black Panther party’s police watch in the 1960s, where members would track police arrests of Black Citizens, and would interfere if the arrest turned violent. Curran asked him a question about a video where someone called a Black ICE officer a home (slur). Dr Foley had not seen the video, so he cannot provide an opinion on it. However, he explained that he does not condone using that type of language against anyone, since the use of the word implies putting the officer on a level that he is not. While everyone has the right to protest, it should be without violence or with such language, because it doesn’t make us any better than those we are protesting against. His advice for students and teachers to stand up and speak out was to have each other’s backs, to go out in numbers, to not underestimate the power of the opposition, but believe in yourselves.
In my interview with Professor Chilas, he explained that ICE is a corrupt organization that is terrorizing people. He also made a point that it didn’t seem possible to reform ICE, and the only real solution was to abolish them. He believes Minnesota’s reaction is logical and a reasonable response to the unfortunate deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. He is heartened that the people of Minnesota are staying strong and sticking together in such a hard time. He explained that while he was disturbed by the imagery that he has seen, he is heartened that people are still together and standing up against this injustice. His advice for students and teachers to stay safe and stay safe was to go out in rallies, and strongly encouraged students to take part, as when he attended the large rally at Foley Square earlier this month, he saw many students and teachers despite the sub-freezing temperatures. He strongly emphasized that protesting was the most influential way to get politicians to notice public opinion since polls don’t have the same effect on how politicians see public opinion the way protests do.
In my final interview with Professor Ahmad Aparicio, as an immigrant herself who was very enthusiastic about this interview, stood with the people, and knew how it felt as an immigrant herself. She expressed feeling scared and not knowing what to expect and had many questions about the operation. She could not understand why ICE was sent specifically to Minnesota to target immigrants since they have a much smaller number of immigrants in their state compared to Texas, Florida, or New York. The state itself has a small population, with an even smaller population of immigrants and undocumented immigrants, which confused her because why would 3000 ICE officers be sent to find a small number of immigrants in such a small city. She questioned why ICE agents were being sent to a state with such a small immigration population that are actually immigrants instead of states like ours. She made a point about it being a political issue, since the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, was the vice-presidential candidate AGAINST him in the 2024 election, so there may be political motivation as well. She also explained that Texas and Florida are both Republican states, the same party as President Trump, so if there is political bias, ICE wouldn’t be sent there because otherwise Trump loses support in Congress. She did some research on the ICE operation, known as Metro Search, where CBP (Customs and Border Protection) and ICE propose that all criminals found by ICE officers will be detained and deported. However, this is not the first operation they’ve passed, as we’ve seen in the LA and Chicago protests earlier last year. It’s difficult to predict where ICE would go next, and why haven’t they come to New York since there is a large number of immigrants here. She believed that if ICE were to come to New York, they would face a similar situation to Minnesota, if not larger, since the citizens of Minnesota have stood with their neighbors, even if they aren’t documented or are immigrants. She explained that this operation was referred to as the largest immigration operation ever carried out, and this has increased severity against observers, as we’ve seen with Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The relative number of people that have been detained are around 400,000. She went to the DHS website, where they claimed that everyone that had been detained had been repeated offenders or have committed crimes. She saw 4 people who had actually been repeated offenders and had committed severe crimes. However, everyone else had very minor offenses compared to the 4 she observed, like DUI’s and trespassing, which aren’t deportable offenses. Her advice to students and teachers was to be sure to know what you are getting into if you are going to get involved, you must know that there may be consequences for it, and to be sure to know all the possibilities that may happen if you plan to get involved. She strongly advised working with organizations and families to take action. Some organizations in our school that she talked about where Make the Road, Hands Off NYC, Dream Team, La Fuerza Unida, and BQ Broadside, to help spread awareness about this topic. She also talked about how social media has played a pivotal role in spreading the word, so she encouraged people to use social media to help everyone, not just undocumented immigrants, know their rights and educate their communities. Finally, she explained the events in Minnesota have been used to generate fear in people, to discourage them from standing up to ICE and voicing their opinions. She emphasized that we must not let fear win, and if we are to stand up for what’s right, we must stand up to fear and stand up for what’s right.
