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  22. More immigrants afraid to show up for ICE check-ins
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  29. Immigrants fear deportation from ICE check-insPHOTO GALLERY
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  36. Oscar Robles is among the many immigrants who the government knows are living in the U.S. illegally, but who, under the previous administration, were not considered priorities for deportation because of their lack of a criminal record or sympathetic cases. But the political climate has changed.
  37. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
  38.  
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  40. By Marwa Eltagouri•Contact Reporter
  41. Chicago Tribune
  42.  
  43. April 4, 2017, 5:14 AM
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  45.  
  46.  
  47. Oscar Robles sits in a room on the fourth floor of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, waiting for officials to call him for his annual check-in.
  48.  
  49. He fills out paperwork on a clipboard and brings it up to the receptionist, as though he were at the doctor's office. At least three other immigrants sit near him, waiting for their own check-ins. One wears an ironed cardigan, her hair clipped back in a neat bun. Her attorney squeezes her hand. Another immigrant's fingers shake as he fills out his forms.
  50.  
  51.  
  52. Robles, 42, doesn't look around. He stares at the dated carpet, then at the blank wall in front of him. He's a soft-spoken man who illegally entered the U.S. as a teenager, a devout Catholic with no criminal history and who never considered skipping the check-in or side-stepping the law. He kept his fears to himself, not wanting to scare his young daughters. They both cried that morning, begging their father to let them skip school to be there for him.
  53.  
  54. A door opens. "Oscar?" an ICE official calls out. They're ready for him.
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  79.  
  80.  
  81. Robles is among many immigrants who the government knows are living in the U.S. illegally, but who, under the previous administration, were not considered priorities for deportation because of their clean criminal records or sympathetic cases. But as the political climate changes, those immigrants — who were allowed to stay in the U.S. provided they checked in with ICE officials every six months to a year — now fear they'll be handed notices of deportation at those check-ins.
  82.  
  83. Under Barack Obama, immigration agents were ordered to target high-priority immigrants like violent criminals, and for the most part left everyone else alone. They often gave low-priority immigrants who didn't have criminal histories more time, especially those with U.S.-born children, attorneys said. But President Donald Trump has ordered ICE to move more aggressively to deport people who are in this country illegally.
  84.  
  85. The immediate practical impact of Trump's immigration policies is uncertain in the Chicago area. Raids and deportations occurred under Obama, and they are continuing now, with no clear indication that they have ramped up.
  86.  
  87. One effect is obvious, however: Some immigrants are now afraid to show up for their check-ins, unsure whether this will be the year that immigration agents detain or deport them.
  88.  
  89.  
  90.  
  91. Some have gone to their check-ins and been released, like Elvira Arellano, an immigration activist whose year living inside a Humboldt Park church a decade ago pushed her to the forefront of the nation's immigration debate. Immigration agents ruled Arellano can remain in the U.S. for another year while she awaits a hearing on her political asylum petition.
  92.  
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  99.  
  100. Immigrant Elvira Arellano granted another year in the U.S.
  101.  
  102.  
  103.  
  104.  
  105.  
  106.  
  107. Elvira Arellano, a lightning rod in the nation's immigration debate, was granted another year of parole in the U.S. on March 15, 2017, by federal authorities. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
  108.  
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  112.  
  113. But a 50-year-old Bolingbrook mother of six, Francisca Lino, who for years had no trouble during her check-ins, went to a check-in a few weeks ago and was handed a deportation notice. Lino, who was deported once before, was told to return to Chicago's immigration office in July with packed suitcases and a plane ticket.
  114.  
  115. "It's horrible. They want to divide us, and we don't have anything in Mexico. All we got is here," said Lino's husband, Diego Lino, a U.S. citizen. "My kids are growing up right now, and it's hard for them, because my girls don't speak very good Spanish, so there's no way for them to go to school over there ... it's impossible for them to be successful."
  116.  
  117. Several immigration attorneys said stricter Department of Homeland Security policies have led to a change in how these check-ins are conducted. And some people living in this country illegally are choosing to skip their check-ins altogether and go into hiding, preferring to live as fugitives with fixed targets on their backs than risk being deported.
  118.  
  119.  
  120.  
  121. "What would you do?" said longtime immigration attorney Kalman Resnick. "Go get deported, go to the horrible violence and poverty of much of Central America and Mexico, to horrible instability and no jobs?"
  122.  
  123. "You'd go underground," he said.
  124.  
  125. ICE did not immediately respond to questions about whether more immigrants are skipping check-ins since Trump's policy changes, but local immigration lawyers and activists say they believe that is the case and know of several who have gone into hiding.
  126.  
  127. While ICE declined to comment on whether more immigrants are being detained or deported after their supervision checks, Lino is among about a half dozen people across the country who have been deported or scheduled for deportation after their check-ins in the past two months, according to news reports.
  128.  
  129. Since the change to Homeland Security policies, immigration agents deported a 31-year-old Houston father of two American children, Jose Escobar, who was living in the country since he was 15 and who had a temporary delay of deportation. He had no criminal record.
  130.  
  131. The mother of two teenagers in Mesa, Ariz., Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, was deported to Mexico in February after her check-in with immigration agents. She had routine meetings with them for years following a felony conviction for using a false Social Security number to get a job. Another Arizona immigrant, Juan Carlos Fomperosa Garcia, 44, was taken into custody in March when he arrived for his check-in in Phoenix. The single father of three U.S. citizens was deported to Mexico the next day, according to news reports.
  132.  
  133. Related
  134.  
  135. A rare look at life inside one of the Chicago area's 2 ICE immigration detention centers
  136.  
  137.  
  138.  
  139. A rare look at life inside one of the Chicago area's 2 ICE immigration detention centers
  140.  
  141.  
  142.  
  143.  
  144. Stricter approach
  145.  
  146. During Obama's administration, ICE officials focused on deporting high-priority immigrants, like those who were considered a threat to public safety. A November 2014 Homeland Security memo to immigration agents said low-priority immigrants should generally be removed — unless, in the judgment of the immigration officer, the immigrant was not a threat to the "integrity of the immigration system" or if another factor suggested the immigrant shouldn't be a priority.
  147.  
  148. Shortly after his inauguration, Trump directed the federal government to enforce the nation's immigration laws more aggressively. In January, he signed an executive order expanding the list of deportation priorities, which now includes any noncitizen who is charged with a criminal offense of any kind or who is suspected of committing criminal acts. It also prioritizes immigrants who have pending orders of removal or who have re-entered the country after previously being deported.
  149.  
  150. His administration additionally stripped the November 2014 memo that gave immigration agents case-by-case discretion. A Feb. 20 Homeland Security memo stated that, with the exception of the memo establishing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, all existing directives for enforcing immigration laws and deportation priorities were rescinded.
  151.  
  152.  
  153. "Now what's happening is that people are showing up on their regular report dates, and some of them are getting picked up or detained or deported. And many of them have no remedies they can pursue at this point," said Resnick, the immigration attorney. He is an Obama supporter who volunteered with his senate and presidential campaigns.
  154.  
  155. One of the easiest ways for ICE agents to detain immigrants is to go after the ones who are showing up for check-ins, he said. If the immigrants don't go to their check-ins, he said, immigration agents can look up their addresses and go to their homes or places of employment.
  156.  
  157.  
  158. At check-ins under the previous administration, ICE agents would ask about immigrants' jobs and families, and then ask them to come in for another check-in, usually in about a year. Check-ins now are short and to-the-point, attorneys say. They'll tell immigrants their fate, and, in most cases, promptly dismiss them.
  159.  
  160. "You show up. And then they're telling you, 'We're detaining you today,' or 'We're giving you a new report date, but expect to (be deported),'" Resnick said.
  161.  
  162. The stricter enforcement is welcomed by many who believe immigration laws need to be enforced more rigorously. Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said he doesn't think anyone living in the country illegally has a right to stay, as it's unfair to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who emigrate to the U.S. legally each year.
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  168. Walking to school
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  178. Oscar Robles walks his daughters Natalia, 10, and Patricia, 7, to the door of their school in Chicago on March 20, 2017.
  179. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
  180.  
  181.  
  182.  
  183.  
  184. "I think the administration is doing the right thing in prioritizing criminal illegal aliens," he said. "But the fact that they're prioritized doesn't mean all the others should get a free pass."
  185.  
  186. Oscar Robles came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1994, when he was 18. He was smuggled across the border, a journey he recalls as frightening, at times — particularly when he spent three hours crammed body-to-body with three other men in the trunk of a truck. He settled in Chicago, met his wife a decade later and had two little girls, Natalia and Patricia.
  187.  
  188. Robles applied for a green card in 2001, which initially tipped immigration agents that Robles was living in the U.S. illegally. His application was rejected. ICE agents contacted him in 2009, and what followed were several years of court proceedings. In 2013, Robles received a final order for deportation. Robles' last chance at staying in the U.S. was applying for an administrative stay of removal, a discretionary tool under the Obama administration that allowed ICE to temporarily delay a person's deportation. It was granted about a year later.
  189.  
  190. Each year since, Robles has checked in with ICE officials to renew his stay of removal application.
  191.  
  192. The family lives in a small apartment on the Northwest Side, filled with crayons and Elmer's glue, a children's artist easel and a keyboard. Robles pays his taxes, works at an auto body shop and hasn't committed a crime since crossing the border 23 years ago. He dreams of buying a house or opening his own auto body shop — something he can't do if he has to renew his request to delay deportation each year.
  193.  
  194. Though he fears deportation, it never crossed his mind to skip his March check-in.
  195.  
  196. "I'll go regardless of what the response is," he said. "I have to present myself. Otherwise I am a criminal. I'd be a fugitive of the legal system."
  197.  
  198. Meanwhile, the daughters struggle. Natalia, who is 10 and has a learning disability, is old enough to understand the fragility of her father's fate. When her father's deportation notice was issued in 2014, she was in third grade, and during that year refused to do her homework or engage in normal activities. She cried in the days leading up to Robles' check-in.
  199.  
  200. "I know I'm going to be fine. Don't be afraid," Robles told Natalia. "We believe in God, and we know everything is going to be fine. After, I will pick you up from school, and we will go eat. You can pick any place you like."
  201.  
  202. She thought for a bit. "McDonald's," she said with a shy smile.
  203.  
  204.  
  205. “You show up (to your ICE check-in). And then they're telling you, 'We're detaining you today,' or 'We're giving you a new report date, but expect to (be deported)'
  206. — Kalman Resnick, immigration attorney
  207.  
  208.  
  209. Skipping check-ins
  210.  
  211. Although some immigrants are choosing to skip their check-ins, immigration attorneys for the most part are advising their clients against this. Immigrants who skip check-ins become fugitives and as a result may endanger relatives or friends who are also living in the country illegally.
  212.  
  213. "If they're living with other undocumented people, ICE will likely conduct an enforcement operation at their home. They'd be exposing other individuals as well," said Vanessa Esparza-López, an attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center.
  214.  
  215. Community members are also taking it upon themselves to ensure immigrants attend their check-ins. The Resurrection Project, a Pilsen-based organization that focuses on education, organizing and community development, has trained 200 volunteers to conduct "Know Your Rights" programming for immigrant communities across the city. The volunteers walk immigrants through what they should do if an immigration agent knocks on their door or detains them, explaining how immigrants living in the country illegally have the right to remain silent and request a lawyer.
  216.  
  217. During these presentations, volunteers encourage immigrants under supervision to attend their check-ins, and explain the consequences of skipping.
  218.  
  219. "Not going to your check-in doesn't mean you're not gonna get deported," said Erendira Rendon, a community organizer with the Resurrection Project. "And going in (for a check-in) doesn't mean you will get deported, either."
  220.  
  221. The group also sends staff and volunteers to accompany immigrants to check-ins. They'll rally elected officials and community organizers to meet outside the ICE building on the day of an immigrant's check-in to pray for them and support them before they head inside.
  222.  
  223. Data:
  224.  
  225. Chicago's history as a sanctuary city
  226.  
  227.  
  228.  
  229. Chicago's history as a sanctuary city
  230.  
  231.  
  232.  
  233. Volunteers with the Resurrection Project were present the morning of Robles' check-in, part of a group of more than 30 people who stood outside the ICE building in the biting wind to support him.
  234.  
  235. Efren Toledo, the principal of O.A. Thorp Scholastic Academy, where Robles' daughters attend school, also came to support Robles. Toledo was among dozens of people who'd submitted letters of support for Robles to help bolster his chances of staying in the country. Toledo knows that if Robles is deported, the family wouldn't separate, and his daughters would move to Mexico. The principal fears the girls' educational development would be compromised if that were the case.
  236.  
  237. "Natalia and Patricia will one day help create the America that we all live in. It is in our interest that we support these girls and families like theirs," he wrote in the letter.
  238.  
  239. Robles prayed with the group and then entered the building's glass doors with his attorney, Katie Vannucci. They made their way up to the fourth floor. A half hour later, he was called in.
  240.  
  241.  
  242. The check-in lasted about five minutes. Robles exited with a soft smile, and Vannucci was beaming.
  243.  
  244. "Really nice officer," she said.
  245.  
  246.  
  247. Robles was given a few more months to finalize his application to stay. But he was told to return for another check-in in June. While he wasn't handed a deportation notice, he knew he could receive one in a few short months when he returned.
  248.  
  249. He was met with applause when he walked outside, from the volunteers and elected officials. "Back to work," his boss told him with a wide grin.
  250.  
  251. For now.
  252.  
  253. Chicago Tribune's Jeff Coen contributed.
  254.  
  255. meltagouri@chicagotribune
  256.  
  257. Twitter @marwaeltagouri
  258.  
  259.  
  260. In case you missed it
  261. Immigration at a Crossroads: New Tribune section covers issues in Chicago and the world
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  263. APR. 18, 2017
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  266. Emanuel introduces ID plan for undocumented immigrants
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  268. MAR. 29, 2017
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  274.  
  275. See More
  276. Copyright © 2018, Chicago Tribune
  277.  
  278. A version of this article appeared in print on April 04, 2017, in the News section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "ICE check-ins fraught with more trepidation - For some, it's risk deportation or turn fugitive" — Today's paper | Subscribe
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