NE immigrant advocates prepare for possible workplace raids, active shooters, mass deportation

(Getty Images)

LINCOLN — Immigrant advocates in Nebraska are gearing up for the possibility of a mass deportation operation, flash workplace raids or other events that would cause upheaval in the state’s immigrant communities.

On Sept. 7, the statewide Las Voces Nebraska organization plans a virtual summit with speaker panels of legal, educational, religious, mental health and other community representatives. The event, open to the public, is to begin at 8:15 a.m. and last about four hours.

The goal, said Las Voces co-founder Marty Ramirez, is to discuss and create a “rapid response plan” for immigrants “in crisis” as a permanent fixture in Nebraska. Las Voces is a statewide advocacy and civic engagement organization representing Latinos.

Ramirez, a retired counseling psychologist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, likened the effort to a fire drill.

“This is a response strategy to a looming crisis,” said Ramirez, a Scottsbluff native who lives in Lincoln.

Underlying that drill, he said, is the threat pronounced by former President Donald Trump to launch the “largest deportation” in U.S. history, targeting millions of undocumented immigrants, if he is elected.

Trump has made immigration a central part of his campaign for president. At the Republican National Convention in July, for instance, people waved “Mass Deportation Now” signs and chanted, “Send them back.”

Las Voces leaders say the Nebraska action plan is a response also to other events that have happened locally and could happen again in the Cornhusker state. They say immigration-related crackdowns have occurred under Democratic administrations, as well.

Link to Sept. 7 summit

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/ 87944494530?pwd= mcdNWBioUtQO8cZ1aea51QaC5SWl1W .1

Meeting ID: 879 4449 4530
Passcode: 457145 —

National and local estimates put the number of undocumented immigrants in Nebraska at between 40,000 and 50,000. But local advocates say that number doesn’t fully account for the many Nebraskans who live in families of mixed status, where some members have legal status while others do not.

The Las Voces effort harkens to previous years when Nebraska immigrant advocates reacted to high-profile workplace raids. Federal agents in 2018, for example, converged on multiple worksites and private residences in O’Neill and other area towns, arresting more than 130 suspected undocumented workers.

When such raids occur, families are left in upheaval, Ramirez said. Schools and others scramble in the aftermath.

“Even though that hasn’t been a recent trend, people don’t forget the raids,” Ramirez said, citing lingering memories of December 2006 enforcement operations at packing plants owned by Swift & Co. in six states. In Grand Island, Nebraska, more than 250 people were detained as helicopters hovered and buses toted away workers.

Rebecca Gonzales, co-founder of Las Voces, said that while advocates and others in those earlier years developed community response plans, those plans need updating. Gonzales retired as Nebraska Appleseed’s racial justice coordinator.

More recently, four adults and three children were injured in a June 28 shooting in Crete , Nebraska, where a man shot at his Latino neighbors.

“The incident reminded Latino leaders that we must be ever vigilant and continue to update our policies and procedures to be able to quickly and efficiently help our neighbors when tragedy strikes,” advocate Ben Salazar of Omaha said in a media release announcing formation of the “rapid response plan.”

Ramirez said that and other events create anxiety in immigrant communities. The action plan seeks to open doors for families to address trauma and mental health issues, as well, he said.

“With the safety of community in mind, we need to have an active plan in place to move expeditiously in the event of future incidents,” Las Voces leaders said in the statement.

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