This is a very good idea. But I have two questions: 1) Is this only in New York and New Jersey? 2) Do they really have "immigrant neighborhoods" up there? Sorry if that's a dumb question ... but I live in Texas and I guess we are "integrated". I mean, one thing that makes racism against immigrants all the more ridiculous is that, despite what the racists must think, there's no way to tell who's who. My husband is an immigrant, and as far as I can tell, we've always lived in "regular" neighborhoods. "Immigrant neighborhoods" sounds like something out of the Industrial Revolution.

Yes, there are pockets or enclaves where people find themselves living amongst others who live similarly for similar reasons. I am guessing that in Texas there are simply many more immigrants. AND many more of Latino descent. In el norte, there is less integration.

What are the ICE raids like where you live?

Oh, and I strongly, strongly disagree that those with "valid visas" (or even permanent residents, really) should be confronting ICE agents. For their own sake, nonimmigrant visa holders should not be getting involved. This is putting their visa status at risk, not to mention potentially subjecting them to being put on all sorts of lists.

"What are the ICE raids like where you live?"

There have been many high-profile, publicized raids of large employers. I work in the immigration legal (defense, of course) field and we hear fairly frequent stories of ICE knocking on the door, always in the wee hours of the morning (so that people are less likely to get their attorneys or other help on the phone, we speculate). The door-knocking stories usually seem to be in cases where ICE is looking for a specific person, and abuse is rampant. For instance, it is not uncommon for officers to lie about who they are and why they are calling, sometimes pretending to be local police. I heard a story about ICE officers yelling through the door that the woman's daughter had been in an accident (a lie), in order to get her to open the door. Another man was told his business had been broken into (also a lie). One problem, I believe, is that the ICE officers are not well trained.

We've had officers enter homes here, too, under the guise of looking for specific individuals, only to scour the house and leave. It's like they're doing reconnaissance. The house inhabitants were terrified, and were easily intimidated into allowing police to come in.
Something I wonder about, is how would an immigrant know a valid warrant if one was presented? I wouldn't know what "a warrant signed by a judge" looked like. Yet we are told we have the right not to open the door unless the cops have a warrant.
As far as I've seen, these poorly trained ICE officers have far too much power. And yes, the recent raids here took place bright and early on Sunday morning. No witnesses. Witnesses dispatched by the Rapid Response Network to act as accompaniment, watching for rights violations by the ICE and informing the migrants of their rights, would be a really good idea.

SG, if you have questions or legal recommendations for the attorneys of the NJ May 1 Coalition, the contact info is all right in this post and you should feel free to directly contribute your thoughts to the coalition. They are open to all constructive feedback and indeed are continually weighing tactical considerations (lawyers, ya know), so I'm sure you could discuss your concerns.

Personally, coming from a family of (Chinese) immigrants, I can't imagine denying the existence of "immigrant neighborhoods". When I was growing up in Los Angeles, my extended family (3 generations, multiple branches) lived in a house in an area where you could walk around all day and do all your shopping and errands and dinner and movies and hardly even hear a word of English. To me that's an immigrant neighborhood; and it didn't even feel like the Industrial Revolution, as we were busy playing arcade games like Phoenix and Centipede and Galaga which were like totally futuristic.

i've lived in "immigrant neighborhoods," too. chinese, actually, as well. the food, the language, the culture was entirely chinese. oh, and italian. i lived near the border of chinese and italian 'hoods. we went to different stores depending on what food we wanted. loved having the choice. i've also lived in mexican/chinese/bangladesh 'hoods, in brookyln. they are all over nyc. in fact, nyc is pretty much a cluster of different "immigrant neighborhoods." i've not lived in the industrial revolution. i have to admit i found it odd that you couldn't relate to the concept, SG! but i've lived in a few places, so i've seen a few things. maybe you have spent a lot of time only in your area? dunno. but thanks very much for laying down your experience here. and i agree with hermano kai: if you have helpful info, please contact the people in the post.

there are "immigrant" neighborhoods in Texas just as there are white only/rich neighborhoods. Even in the most "integrated" places in Texas, you're still going to find immigrant neighborhoods. Examples: Colonias? The wrong side of the tracks? 10 "sheds" on a piece of land rented out to mostly immigrants who are afraid to speak out against bad living conditions? I live in Texas and the concept is not foreign to me.

I live in West Michigan and we have "immigrant neighborhoods" too. I mean, we have certain apartment complexes that have several Somali or other African immigrant families, and certain ones that have several Arab families from different countries. We also have Latino neighborhoods. I lived into a Latino neighborhood until a little over a year ago: Mexican and Dominican grocery stores; Mexican, Dominican, and Salvadoranean restaraunts; so much... I miss that neighborhood like you wouldn't believe.

This is gonna sound kinda ignorant, but reading this post and the comments I have to ask: where can one find good resources on rights regarding these matters? I ask because especially reading the comments I was reminded of something that happened more than once when I lived in the Latino neighborhood. My husband and I lived in a two floor/4 bedroom apartment that we shared with a few illegal friends. We regularly had other friends, legal and not, sleeping on the couches. On more than one occassion cops showed up at my door demanding to be allowed in. One time they said that a 911 call had come from our phone and demanded to "see" that everything was okay. When I refused and said that I didn't have to let them in without a warrant, they threatened to bust in my door. I made them wait because I needed to dress since I was the only sober person in the house and as a Muslim needed to be covered properly. They came in and talked to one guy and looked around then left. It was really creepy to me, not only as a woman but also knowing that I was the only citizen and feeling very much like even the legals in the house are at all kinds of risk when that kind of thing happens.

Of course my living circumstances aren't like that anymore anyway, but still, I'd really like to know and be aware, and to be able to share this information with my friends who probably experience this sort of thing all the time.

aaminah, I too am in West Michigan and from the description of your old neighborhood, I can make a pretty good guess that we're in the same city. Check out Michigan Organizing Project, which has an office in GR, and Kalamazoo (used to be in Muskegon, but maybe not anymore). They have an immigration task force to figure out how to help the community. Not sure what they are up to these days, but it's worth a call to them.

Bueno, Finca! Hey, if you wanna get together sometime, click on the link to my blog and email me. Gracias por la informacion.

I hadn't heard of this hotline -- I'm going to tell all the people I know about it. Thanks so much.

...as for the discussion of "immigrant neighborhoods" -- I live in a community with fewer than 150,000 in the metro area. We clearly have high-target areas -- in particular the trailer courts, and a high-density apartment comples with about 30 buildings.

I know I'm late to the party, but here goes ...

One brief note at the outset: This hotline is intended for emergencies ONLY--for when you see ICE on the street or if they are at your door. For routine informational inquiries, please use this number: (212) 419-3737 (I am told this is a number available for national use).

aaminah, here is a good place to start for raids resources, especially the very effective illustrated summary (pdf) of how to prepare for and respond to an ICE raid put out by CASA de Maryland, Spanish version here (pdf).

SG: This particular hotline is primarily intended for residents of NY/NJ to prevent it from being overwhelmed, though it may functionally serve the Eastern Seaboard and South, since there seem to be no other hotlines around to serve those areas. I am told there are other raids hotlines in Boston, Chicago, and LA, but I don't have those numbers at the moment. When I get them, I'll post them at Citizen Orange. Also, hopefully, a national website with this information can be put together (in discussion now). If someone calls this RRN hotline from another state, they likely won't be hung up on, but neither will the caller necessarily get the most relevant local information that might be obtained from the hotline in their area.

As far as LPRs volunteering to respond to ICE raids, I agree there is some risk. But, as Eric Lerner recently pointed out to me after I raised that same concern, this is ultimately a decision for each particular individual to make. To take that away from them could disempower them. Also, if LPRs cede their constitutional rights to ICE out of fear of retribution, then the nativists have won an important victory.

Finally, let me reiterate the pitch for volunteers in the post above. Spanish-speaking volunteers for the NY/NJ hotline are urgently needed. You don't even have to live in the NY/NJ area to volunteer--you just have to be within the US with a cell phone you can have on you for 8 hour shifts. If you do live in the NY/NJ area, please consider volunteering for the hotline or for the Rapid Response teams. For that, no Spanish language skills are required, just a willingness to travel at a moment's notice to advise migrants of their constitutional rights when confronted by ICE. If you are interested and available, contact Eric Lerner at info@njmay1.org or 973-736-0522.

This is a way you can get involved to make a difference and prevent further ICE abuses. Please, give it some thought!

If you aren't in any of the metro areas listed above, you might consider organizing to set up a hotline or Response Teams in your own area.