After several adults turned to the Council of Montgomery’s commissioners on Thursday, among the traditions of ice arrests in Norristown, 10-year-old Antonella turned to Lectern.
It was too tiny to reach the microphone, but the lawyer from Pennsylvania of the immigration coalition pulled the chair so that the audience could see and hear it.
Antonella said that her siblings did not go to school because they were afraid of ice and she broke out with tears.
“I’m afraid that my mother will be taken and she will not return home from work,” she said through the sob. “Please, go welcoming the rules.”
After the end of speaking, the democratic commissioner Jamil Winder left the desk at the front of the room to hug Antonella before the public comments were continued.
The youthful girl, whose name is suspended at the request of supporters who accompanied her, was one of the dozen or so inhabitants of Montgomery and immigration supporters who talked at the Thursday meeting of the board on ice arrests, when activists continue to put pressure on officials of the unit to take more formal activities for immigrants.
Over the past two weeks, ICE agents arrested almost 20 immigrants in Norristown, disseminating fear as enforcement actions increased throughout the country. Norristown, the seat of Montgomery, has 33% of Latinos, from 18% of inhabitants born outside the United States.
When the commissioners of the counties met in the heart of the commune, residents reported that ICE agents were on the streets again, and more members of the Norristown City Council spoke against the federal presence.
The agents were on Arch Street around 9 am and more or less in Powell Street, said the inhabitants of Norristown in social media, although these reports could not be verified independently.
ICE officials did not answer immediately at the request for comment on Thursday. But actions in Norristown reflect the national trend when the White House teases on ice to augment immigration arrests.
On Tuesday, the enforcement of immigration and customs set a one -day record of arrests, NBC News has informed over 2,200 messages.
Hundreds of arrested were enrolled in the agency’s alternative to arrest, in which migrants who do not pose a public threat can live freely, followed by cube monitors or other devices and required for periodic, personal ice control.
Now more and more people are arrested when they appear on what they expect to be a routine office meeting.
“The ice actions are terrifying, cruel and unfair and are not welcome in Norristown,” said the member of the City Council Jasmine Griffen in a statement Thursday morning. “I will continue to stand with everyone who stands in the face of this extensive, traumatic, unfair and inhuman treatment.
Griffen was one of the speakers at the board meeting on Thursday. She asked the commissioners to join her in a state of immigrant community of Norristown.
Democratic commissioners of the unit of Neil Makhija and Winder often talked in opposition to the administration policy of President Donald Trump regarding immigration and said that the unit would not replace employees to help ICE. Several residents thanked them for their support. But a handful asked for more.
“It’s not just about many undocumented people who are accepted without a proper trial,” said Jay Lee, a representative of the Woori Center based in Lansdale, who is in favor of Asian immigrants. “It is also about the spread of fear and uncertainty for anyone who came to this country to continue higher education, people with circumscribed proficiency in English and people whose skin color or cultural or religious practices are not consistent with their unclear standards.”
Supporters spent the months, pushing the commissioners of Montgomery to adopt a formal regulation on a poviat limiting the cooperation of ICE, especially in prison. This action would not prevent ICE enforcement actions in Norristown, and the management board managed by the Democrat was based on taking action, citing the limits of the power of the commissioners and fears that this would ensure false hope of the immigrant community.
Democratic commissioners said they were going to the rope, working on the protection of the immigrant community, while observing state and federal law – a dynamics that became more complex last week, when the unit was included in the internal security department on the “Sanctuary” jurisdiction list, which could lose federal financing. This list was later removed from the DHS website and it is not clear whether it will be restored and which jurisdiction will remain on it.
“We are doing our best, with our authority,” said Machija. Makhija said that if a resident was detained without a proper trial, the unit would be ready to help.
“I’m not afraid and I know that you are not afraid to do the best for our residents, and if we have to go to court, there is a lot of precedent.”
Commissioner Tom Dibello, the only Republican on the board, issued a different tone when he questioned the Federal Government’s decision to name Montgomery the sanctuary, but he was strongly behind the actions of law enforcement agencies, including ICE.
“There are people who did not follow the processes and there are consequences,” he said.
The management board founded an immigrant office at the beginning of this year, employing Nelly Jimenez-Generalo, who spent a decade leading Aclamo based in Norristown.
Jimenez -erevalo turned to the management board on Thursday, presenting her efforts during the first two months in the role that focused on reviewing the existing support of the county for immigrants and external communication with immigrants and groups that tell them.
Jimenez -evalo, an immigrant from Venezuela, recognized the fear of ice Especially in Norristown.
“This type of terror does not take place in our community,” she said. “My fellow immigrants are standing with you, regardless of your situation.”
Increased law enforcement in recent days has also brought rallies and protests.
Proponents of Make The Road Pennsylvania gathered on Tuesday at the City City Philadelphia Center to support the asylum seeker, whom they identified as 23-year-old Edwin, who was arrested on Monday.
Fracas broke out in Chicago on Wednesday after federal agents detained at least 10 people who came to the ice office. Activists and government officials came when news of arrests spread, and Alderman Anthony Quezada said that the agents pushed him to the ground when chaos broke out, said Block Club Chicago.
On Saturday, supporters planned the “Montco stands with Immigrants” rally in Norristown.
And the very unit Immigrant Heritage Month Block Party on Thursday afternoon. The party, which presented the speeches of public officials on the stairs of the Court of Fountains, was organized before raids, but Jimenez-Irevalo said that the unit decided to organize an event to take a position.
“We express a clear and powerful statement that we will not intimidate anyone,” said Jimenez -erevalo during the celebrations on weekdays. She applauded Makhija and Viet for a speech in support of immigrants in a terrifying time.
“They stood challenging with our immigrant communities, even when others decided to remain noiseless.”
