And when I went, when I. Welcome to or isn't there a. Series that takes a look at topics and issues in Arizona through a Hispanic lens.

I'm your host, Catherine Anaya.

Since taking office earlier this year, the president has continued to ramp up his mass deportation program, leading to immigration raids, a huge drop in border crossings, the use of military forces and immigration actions, and court rulings regarding those raids.X Here to talk more about what's been happening and the short and potentially long term impacts in Arizona is Doctor Edward Vargas, an associate professor in Arizona State University School of Transborder Studies.

Arizona immigration attorney Delia Salazar, Tierra and Reyna montoya, founder of Alimento, a nonprofit group that serves students, dreamers and immigrant families.

Thank you all for being here.

Really appreciate it.

So we know that the Supreme Court recently ruled that Ice can continue carrying out immigration related raids in the Los Angeles area.

Delia, I want to start with you.

Can we expect to see that level of force here in Arizona?

Yes.

And across the country, the Supreme Court's decision gave a green light to the executive power.

Having pretty much infinite authority to engage in, immigration raids.

And so even though Arizona is not a, a sanctuary state, I think enforcement, like those in Los Angeles, will move across the country in Arizona, as you say, including Arizona.

So with that in mind, how are you advising your clients and your families who are calling your office for help?

You know, it's very difficult and it's on a case by case basis.

The motto in the office is one client, one case, one family at a time, and you handle it as the best you can.

And when there are no options, you are as honest as you can be.

When there are options and especially when there are citizen children, in the middle of this tug of war between whether they should leave or stay.

I think we have an honest conversation about what they're confronting.

You also have to understand that currently, the Board of Immigration Appeals has struck down all opportunities for individuals who entered the country illegally to qualify for a bond.

So there's going to be greater numbers of individuals in detention.

And that is also going to impact how we advise clients about whether they should stay and how long they will be in custody to to be able to bring their case before an immigration judge.

There is so much uncertainty.

There is a lot of anxiety.

Doctor Vargas, you talked to 1000 Latino immigrants about, what they've been experiencing in the community.

In the first 100 days of the president's administration.

What did they tell you?

What have you discovered?

Yeah.

So in this study.

So a group of us, we we put some money together and we decided we want to go into the field.

We particularly were interested how our families, particularly immigrant families, the Latino immigrant families in particular.

And so we found that, you know, there's an uptick in people who are are saying that they're not, for example, calling police, reporting crimes.

We have people who are saying that they're not going to go to see their doctor and and go check on their prescription.

So we've seen kind of an uptake of this, this idea, what we call the chilling effect of people not engaging with, whether it be police, city folks, school officials, so on and so forth.

We also found, just an uptick in people reporting issues with mental health, particularly with depression.

People about, 30% said they have an increase, for example, having issues with, with, sleeping at night.

So on and so forth.

Another kind of main thing that we learned from this study is just how, documented these individual families are.

In other word, they say something about two out of three families are in a mix that is families.

So these families have their kids are in school, they have loans, they have mortgages.

And they're very much a documentary in every sense of the of the term.

So just just a wide range of emotions out.

I will say that this happened prior to the raids that were happening in L.A.

So that just we're seeing that now, we would expect that if we we did this study again, we would even see a higher, insecurity in these families, more heightened feelings.

All this the fear and the anxiety we're talking about, according to the American Immigration Council in Arizona, there are nearly 100,000 immigrants with an immigrant spending power of more than $33 billion.

So with that in mind, what is the short term and the potential long term impacts for Arizona economy with what's going on now?

And if we see, like Delia was saying, this heightened presence and military tactics in Arizona.

Yeah, I think what are the worst things that can happen in such an environment is uncertainty.

We know that uncertainty, particularly when it comes to investing in terms of the, the investing and the power, that of of people's investors and the economy.

We're seeing we're really seeing signs of sort of a stagflation of people not spending money.

We're seeing worker shortages, particularly in the fields, if we look down in Yuma.

So these things are kind of slowly our our housing economy is really slow at this moment.

And so we're kind of seeing these signs, that the future which we'll have long term, implications down the road, I know for, for example, us at ASU, we're seeing maybe students who said, you know, I'm going to take a semester off and maybe I'm not going to enroll this semester or people rethinking about what the, you know, turn of their career choices.

And so we're so we are already seeing these, these, these, proxies of kind of these inflationary periods and stagflation, people just not investing or, not going out to eat that, spending money, not taking a trip to, for example, to California, so on and so forth.

Because, you know, we don't know what the future holds.

So right now we are seeing these behavior changes at Alimento.

I understand that you've compiled this, defense and preparation plan for the families and the students that you serve.

Can you tell me a little bit about what's in that?

Yes.

We wanted to ensure that families, especially those that come from mixed immigration status, which is about 10% of the Arizona population, had an opportunity to think about it like an insurance, right.

You get insurance in your car, not necessarily because you want to get in a car accident, but you get it in terms of preparation.

So we worked alongside attorneys and other community leaders to put this package together so that they can be ready in case of a detention or deportation of our loved one.

And this is the plan that you create, that you have all your documents in order that you wish you never have to use.

But it's there if you need it.

Well, we have heard reports that, some DACA recipients with temporary protections, who have not committed a crime are being detained or arrested and not given due process.

So, Dahlia, my question for you is what rights do they have and should they be carrying their DACA papers with them at all times?

Absolutely.

Not just talk about anyone who has any form of status, driver's license, green card, U.S.

passport if you are an American citizen.

But, look, Latino, I think it's an important time to carry, documentation.

So, Reyna, my next question then for you is because you advocate for students, dreamers and immigrant families.

What kind of stress, what kind of trauma are they coming to you, especially when they hear, you know, an attorney like Dahlia saying, carry everything with you.

What kind of stress and trauma does that place on them right now?

You have to think about it is you're in constant level of hyper vigilance since the moment that you wake up and your parents are dropping up into school, our kids are going into school constantly thinking with that fear.

And that anxiety is just the last time that I get to hug Mom and dad.

And when they're in the classrooms, we're not only seeing that from the students.

We work with educators, with school teachers.

We're crying because they don't know how to have these conversations with the kiddos.

They are.

How am I supposed to teach math and English when the kids are constantly worrying about tomorrow?

And I think that this is really, really harmful, not only for the kids themselves.

Kids are gonna they're going to grow like any other human, and they're going to become adults.

And these long lasting PTSD is going to have long ramifications in their health, in their ability to continue to move forward.

Dahlia.

Go ahead.

I think one thing that's really different this time, and I don't know if Reyna would agree with me, but the messaging from the Department of Homeland Security on social media is, is something else.

And I think our kids see that.

These children see that.

And you have to understand that these children, for the most part, Americans are Americans, right.

And, we are using social media to badger them about the status of their families and their their long term stability in this country.

And so I think that DHS has been very clear and very on point in the messaging that they're sending out through social media at this time.

I want to reference an article that I know.

Reyna, you have seen.

It's an article by Mikayla McConnell and Stephen Huppert for the American Immigration Council.

5 million U.S.

children are living with at least one undocumented family member.

And in Arizona, it's 1 in 10.

Delia, are children legally protected at school?

No.

The Department of Homeland Security at the beginning of, President Trump's term, canceled, safe spaces or sanctuary spaces, including churches and schools.

I think it would be a new frontier.

I haven't seen it on a wide scale where ice does go into schools.

I don't think they want to, but, I think if that would be a new frontier, and I think if that's where the department would want to go, they can certainly do it on a policy level.

I'm sure that groups would sue, and then we would have to see what the what the Supreme Court would say as to that new frontier of enforcement action.

And, Reyna, you're a former teacher.

What are your thoughts on what schools should know to remain compliant and still maintain that very important school environment?

Definitely.

I think something that is really critical is that we understand that there are still laws that protect kids, something that all schools should know.

It's about Plyler versus though a 1982 case that cannot intimidate or cannot discriminate based on national origin.

Also, Cerpa, you have to abide by not disclosing any type of student information unless you have a subpoena.

So there's a specific mechanism that, that schools yes, you want to comply, but you want to comply with federal law as well.

And as this changes of this new administration that the Supreme Court cases have larger precedent than executive orders.

And as you mentioned, yes, there might be a new frontier, but it is really critical that schools are protected and that schools continue to do their best to ensure that kids are not being discriminated by only attending school.

And are you feeling the same way when it comes to the collegiate level for students?

Yeah, we're seeing that the university as well.

But I do want to add on because I've done some experiments with teachers, about whether or not they perceive the kids and their parents to be undocumented.

And there is a bias.

There is a bias that exists and that teachers who believe that their parents of the children are undocumented actually report more behavioral issues with those kids.

They're more likely to say that that kid, is suffering from mental health problems.

There have more, issues related to, being in terms of suspension and so on and so forth.

So very parallel to the research that we find around incarceration.

We're also finding that among teachers of this bias that they may not even know exist.

But I will say that any issue, in my department, that school transborder studies, we have a dream zone.

And so we we are we are very, very, aligned in terms of supporting students.

And because what we do know, as mentioned earlier, is that our families, it just doesn't impact immigrants.

It impacts it has a spillover effect to everybody in our community.

Yes.

Well, thank you for that, because my next question for all of you, with the two minutes that we have left is what resource, what one resource would you recommend for everybody watching if they want to stay up to date?

Because things are changing, you know, by the day, by the hour?

I personally like the Migrant Insider because it's the only, reporting outlet that's immigration reporting in the nation's capital daily.

I start with you.

I think the best, plan is the one that Alejandro has on their website and the services provided by, by Alejandro to help these families.

If their children, if they get picked up or they get detained, provide a guardianship, opportunity for their children.

And also your website, you have some information?

I do I do have it as well.

Mine are geared more towards powers of attorney for families as well, but also informing them what is, what to expect if you're detained.

Okay.

Great.

30s left.

Reyna.

What do you see that or forward slash resources.

We understand that mental health and anxiety is very real.

So we have anywhere between the preparation packages to mental health therapist support groups that we provide and also go to college and stay in college.

Wonderful.

Yeah, I would I would have a number to an attorney, have somebody to call, in case something does happen.

I know that the Mexican Council is seeing an upsurge of people getting dual citizenship.

So that's, an avenue just to be prepared.

And again, a little, point there, other folks, in the community, Lucha Chiefs but anybody who, who knows who's in this space again, having a number of an attorney can be very helpful.

Okay.

Thank you all so much for being here.

Really appreciate your time, your energy, and of course, your wisdom.

Thanks.

Thank you.

And that's our show for tonight for Arizona and Arizona PBS I'm Catherine and I have a great night at.

I can't wait.