People with, and without correct paperwork have deserted the streets in Chicago and Dallas in fear of arrest as United States President Donald Trump has directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ramp up the deportation of illegal immigrants to between 1,300 and 1,800 per day.
White Caucasians have also not taken advantage of more free spaces to strut their stuff, seemingly remaining indoors too, but not because they are scared of arrest, as the crackdown is evidently on people who are Black, Latino, or Asian.
People in Chicago with, and without, the correct paperwork fear being arrested as part of a fresh immigration crackdown and are remaining indoors.
Texas Standard reports that as fears of deportation escalate in immigrant communities across North Texas, some business owners in Dallas are seeing the effects.
Even before ICE agents arrested 84 people this weekend in Dallas, Irving Arlington, Fort Worth, Garland and other cities, rumors had been spreading on social media of ICE arrests in neighborhoods around Dallas, including Oak Cliff.
In the heart of the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, the owner of a quinceañera dress shop on Jefferson Boulevard said those fears are driving people away.
“The streets are empty. There are no people,” the woman – who spoke to KERA anonymously – said in Spanish. “People are scared. We are now without people, without sales, and business is going down.”
Sky News says, Look at parts of Chicago, and they look a little different under Donald Trump.
Take for example Little Village, a Hispanic neighbourhood on the city’s south side, where the streets look empty.
Locals told us far fewer people were venturing outdoors as a result of the ICE raids, some of which have taken place here.
The initial crackdown, we are told, is targeting migrant criminals but there is also the prospect of ‘collateral arrest’.
People with, and without, paperwork fear the risk and so are remaining indoors. A community has retreated into the shadows.
One man, Steve, told us of the anxieties of his mother, who came from Mexico years ago and is without the appropriate documentation.
He said: “She crossed the border over here to get a better life for us when we were born, to get education and all. She’s scared to go out there, that she might get picked up.”
We attended one community centre which offers support to migrants. They had placed a notice on the front door giving instructions on what to do if ICE comes calling.
A gate at the entrance is drawn closed, where it wasn’t before. The staff have changed their routine, following a raid round the corner.
Their morning starts with a recce of the roads around the building to check for immigration officials.
Inside, we met Oliber, a Venezuelan who is in the US legally, has a work permit and has been employed in construction.
In the current circumstances, he is reluctant to go to his place of work for fear of arrest, even though his paperwork is in place.
“I feel scared,” he told us. “I go out feeling frightened. I don’t go out now like I used to. I used to go out every day until night-time, I’d work at any time, but now I can’t go out anywhere.
“There are rumours about migrants and I’m scared, that they might catch me, deport me. My family depends on me. I can’t go out like I used to, I’m scared, I’m scared.”
It is a story of government policy with humans at its heart. Immigration enforcement officials publish figures that show an increase on Joe Biden’s daily average for deportations in his final year.
The choreography of the crackdown, certainly, is eye-catching. Much of America will applaud.
Not so much, the communities centre-stage.
