Agentes se hicieron pasar por jornaleros antes de arrestos en Phoenix

Key facts

Early on Saturday morning, immigration agents carried out an operation at a Home Depot on 43rd Avenue in west Phoenix. Clarissa Vela of the Phoenix-based People First Project said agents took 10 people. Cell phone video from the scene showed men in handcuffs seated at the edge of the road, surrounded by ICE agents.

Witnesses described how the agents arrived. According to accounts gathered by community organizers, some agents were dressed as day workers and some were dressed as unhoused people. Agents then drove toward the far end of the parking lot and detained several men there.

Erika Andiola of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network said the people taken were workers who had come to the store to buy supplies, not to solicit work.

ICE has not publicly released details about the operation, including how many people were detained, who they were, or whether any had criminal records. Advocates have asked Home Depot to take steps so customers feel safe entering its stores.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has repeatedly said the administration targets what he calls the worst of the worst, and that agents arrest rapists, murderers, gang members and drug traffickers. Federal data complicates that description. Agents made nearly 51,000 immigration arrests in August, a monthly record, and a large share of those arrested had no criminal convictions, no pending charges and no identified gang affiliation.

Context

Hardware store parking lots have been informal hiring sites in American cities for decades. That makes them predictable places to find workers, which is precisely why they draw enforcement operations.

The disguises are the newer element, and they change what a person can do to protect themselves. Standard know-your-rights advice assumes you can tell who is an agent. When agents dress as workers or as unhoused people, the warning signs that communities have learned to watch for, unmarked vehicles and tactical vests, are absent until the moment of arrest.

This is consistent with what this newspaper has documented in Indianapolis, Queens, Connecticut and Atlanta: operations conducted in ordinary places, with no named operation, no local numbers, and a public record assembled mostly from bystander video and community groups.

What this means

Errands are not safe by default. Several of the men detained in Phoenix were reportedly customers.

You do not lose your rights because you are in a parking lot. You have the right to remain silent, and you do not have to answer questions about your birthplace or how you entered the country. You do not have to consent to a search of your vehicle.

What to do next

Ask clearly, am I free to leave. If yes, walk away calmly. If you are being detained, say you wish to remain silent and that you want a lawyer, then stop talking.

Do not run, and do not carry false documents. Both create new criminal exposure.

Make a plan before you need it. Memorize a phone number for a relative or attorney rather than relying on your phone. Decide now who will pick up your children and who has authority to act for you if you are detained.

If you witness an operation, record from a safe distance and note the time, location, number of agents and vehicle descriptions. In Phoenix, as elsewhere, bystander video was the only public record of what happened.

Diario Migrante resume y analiza la cobertura de AZFamily (Arizona's Family); los datos y las citas son de la nota original.