Families live in fear of deportation as immigration arrests increase: ‘I’m definitely very scared’
By Elaina Athans
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RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — There were lines outside of the Mexican Consulate in Raleigh Monday following a surge of immigration arrests nationwide. People say the consulate is usually busy, but with President Trump’s recent executive orders, there’s a push by some here to make sure all of their documents are in order.
“I told my husband if any chance we get to be deported, we have to accept it – we just have to leave,” said Nancy Hernandez.
She has been living in the United States for more than two decades and Hernandez says she has a green card.
All three of her children were born here and are U.S. citizens.
Hernandez and her husband are facing questions about whether their lives could change under the Trump administration.
“It was definitely hard. Scared, I’m definitely very scared,” said Hernandez.
Trump has authorized ice to target once off-limits places. This includes courthouses, schools medical facilities and churches.
There were nearly a thousand immigration arrests as part of a surge this past weekend.
ABC11 reached out to see if places are changing their policies.
UNC Health says it is reviewing its guidance.
Duke Health is doing the same and also says it wants to “assure all patients that they will receive the highest quality care at Duke Health facilities without regard to immigration status.”
The Wake County School District tells ABC11 that attorneys are finalizing guidance and the district hopes to share the update with school leaders this week.
34 percent of students in the Durham Public Schools are Latino and the district say it’s consulting with in-house counsel.
The nonprofit Siembra NC was formed during the first Trump administration and now has a hotline to financially help families going through detention.
“A lot of times, what we have seen, the person who gets detained in the family is the sole breadwinner,” said Siembra NC Co-Director Kelly Morales. “Then you have a whole family who no longer has someone in the household who goes to work.”
Hernandez’s teenage daughter refused to leave the house this weekend – not even to go to church or the park.
“It is alarming. it is worry. That’s the reason my daughter there’s like ‘What if they come to my school? What do i do? ”” said Hernandez. “At school, a lot of her friends are scared. They don’t want to go outside. They don’t want to go to the stores and I was telling them, we just have to be prepared for everything.”
The Durham County School District says some students have been missing school during this time of uncertainty, although it’s unclear how many.
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