Jamaine Punzalan

Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE)/Facebook

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:300px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1743470372087485985794_1010511681265889_359307378064747520_n.jpg" style="width:300px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE)/Facebook</span></span></span></div><p>Fearing a US immigration raid will separate her from her children, an undocumented Honduran immigrant hunkers down in her Washington home, anxiously scouring a WhatsApp group for real-time updates on nearby sweeps.</p><p>Rosario, a 35-year-old mother of two, practically lives in hiding in the face of US President Donald Trump&#x27;s sweeping campaign to arrest and deport millions of undocumented immigrants since his return to the White House in January.</p><p>Her only lifeline is a community group on the messaging app that provides news about immigration raids in Washington neighborhoods -- often mixed with unverified or false information.</p><p>&quot;You stay informed and stay a little more alert thanks to the group,&quot; Rosario told AFP in her studio apartment, festooned with birthday balloons, stuffed toys, and a wall hanging made from corn husk.</p><p>&quot;That way, you get rid of fear a little bit -- but fear always persists,&quot; said the part-time dishwasher, who crossed into the United States in 2021 after an arduous journey from her home country.</p><p>Rosario, who refused to disclose her real name, peered through her window blinds for any lurking agents from ICE -- the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, which has been deployed to carry out the Trump administration&#x27;s promise to target undocumented immigrants.</p><p>&quot;Alert: ICE activity was reported at a business center on (Mount) Pleasant around noon,&quot; a message flashed in the group, adding that six masked agents were spotted in the Washington neighborhood and one person was detained.</p><p>It was not possible for Rosario to ascertain whether the tip was real or fake.</p><p>Still, she remained confident the community group, fed by other immigrants and advocates, provided reliable information -- crucial for determining her limited movements to work and to purchase groceries.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/23/pinay-green-card-holder-detained-by-ice-after-returning-from-ph-1830">Pinay green card holder detained by ICE after returning from PH: report</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;SCARY CLIMATE&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Rosario also puzzled over another morsel of unverified information in the group that had not appeared in the mainstream media: that an undocumented female immigrant was detained by ICE at a school in the Bethesda neighborhood.</p><p>Immigration sweeps on educational institutions are rare, but the Trump administration has said it no longer considers sensitive locations such as schools, churches, and hospitals off-limits to agents. The policy has been legally challenged by religious organizations.</p><p>Such uncertainty and fear have spawned a flurry of rumors about suspected immigration raids and movements of ICE agents that ricochet across messaging apps and online platforms, leaving immigrant communities on edge.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2025/1/25/dfa-tells-filipinos-in-us-stay-low-key-work-on-legalizing-your-stay-1453">DFA tells Filipinos in US: &#x27;Stay low-key, work on legalizing your stay&#x27;</a></div><p>In February, AFP&#x27;s fact-checkers debunked a viral online video that claimed to show an undocumented Colombian woman being expelled from the United States. In reality, it was a fictionalized clip posted in 2023 by an American YouTuber.</p><p>Last month, another online video purportedly showed undocumented immigrants being arrested from a US barbershop. AFP found the video staged, with the uniforms worn by the supposed immigration officials appearing inauthentic.</p><p>&quot;In the current scary climate, it is hard to know what&#x27;s true, what&#x27;s inaccurate,&quot; the director of an immigration advocacy group in Washington told AFP, requesting anonymity.</p><p>The heightened fears among immigrant communities, he added, have made it harder to &quot;decipher fact from fiction.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/27/24-filipinos-in-us-deported-80-others-up-for-deportation-envoy-1125">24 Filipinos in US deported; 80 others up for deportationABSNews, ANC promo, US, US, Donald Trump, Trump administration, Trump immigration, Trump deportation, OFW, immigrants, undocumented immigrants, deportation </a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;FEAR GRABS YOU&#x27; </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Despite an uptick in immigration arrests, authorities appear to be struggling to meet Trump&#x27;s mass deportation goals.</p><p>The number of deportation flights since Trump took office on January 20 has been roughly the same as those in the final months of President Joe Biden&#x27;s administration, US media reported, citing data collected by an immigration rights advocate.</p><p>That has done little to allay fears among the country&#x27;s estimated 14 million undocumented immigrants.</p><p>Those concerns are aggravated by the government&#x27;s shock-and-awe tactics of publicizing raids in major cities and footage of shackled migrants being loaded onto deportation flights.</p><p>Amid a lack of reliable information and fears of stepped-up raids, many undocumented immigrants have gone underground, with some even withdrawing their children from school, advocacy groups say.</p><p>Many also remain vulnerable to exploitation by their employers.</p><p>Elizabeth, an undocumented immigrant and mother of five, avoids the messaging groups filled with unverified information, choosing instead to stay vigilant and aware of her surroundings.</p><p>&quot;If you don&#x27;t know what is happening, fear grabs you,&quot; she told AFP, declining to share her real name and country of origin.</p><p>&quot;Fear is a product of misinformation.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A-WR_XtXi_U" title="PH envoy believes Pinay green card holder detained by ICE has strong case vs deportation | ANC" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GqsGS9faCGw" title="Trump says &#x27;most sweeping&#x27; immigration crackdown in American history during Congress speech" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>Undocumented immigrants are anxiously scouring WhatsApp groups for real-time updates on nearby raids.</p>

Undocumented immigrants are anxiously scouring WhatsApp groups for real-time updates on nearby raids.

Undocumented migrants turn to Whatsapp to stay ahead of US raids

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Undocumented migrants turn to Whatsapp to stay ahead of US raids

Agence France-Presse

Published Apr 01, 2025 09:23 AM PHT

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