WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than two dozen immigrants and advocates wearing orange shirts emblazoned with “undocumented and here to stay” huddled at the headquarters of the immigrant advocacy group United We Dream late Tuesday night, ready to celebrate what appeared to be the likely election of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Pizza and salad remnants, beverages, and sparkling water littered tabletops. Balloons, streamers, and banners hung around the office.
But the excitement dulled through the night — and took on a grave tone around 11 p.m., as Donald Trump took a decisive lead.
Throughout his campaign, Trump specifically targeted immigrants like the young adults gathered at the United We Dream offices as one of the main focuses of his ire. After launching his bid for the White House by calling immigrants criminals and rapists, he promised to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to prevent unauthorized migration; strip away President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, which gives work permits and deportation relief for some undocumented immigrants brought to the country as young children; and round up millions of undocumented immigrants for deportation.
Now, he may be ready to follow through. The president-elect’s first 100 days agenda has made it clear that he will set his sights on making life much more difficult for immigrants. Among some of his immediate immigration promises, Trump vows to “cancel every unconstitutional executive action,” including the DACA initiative, remove the “more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back,” and suspend immigration from “terror-prone regions.”
“Deport me, no way! I’m here to stay!”
More than 741,000 immigrants have been approved for DACA since its 2012 implementation, according to the most recently available data — meaning that tens of thousands of people have already used the program to allow them to go on for higher education, get driver’s licenses, and get jobs in the formal economy that contribute to local, state, and federal taxes.
As election results continued to trickle in throughout Tuesday night, some immigrants silently wiped tears from their faces while organizers ducked balloons, now a nuisance, to talk over next steps. Many DACA recipients sat stunned, gazing into the distant future of what it would be like to have, once again, an unstable economic future without protection from deportation.
As it became clear around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning that Trump would be elected as president, organizers gathered together for a group chant and song. Then, holding banners that read “Donald Trump is a racist,” they took to the streets of D.C. and marched one mile to the White House.
“Deport me, no way!” they chanted in unison. “I’m here to stay!”
“Undocumented and unafraid!” they continued. Construction workers on the street smiled on, while people in cars honked horns to show support.
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Not everyone was so friendly. A group of college students dismissed the group as “just illegals.” A man wearing a Reagan/Bush ’84 shirt approached the group shouting, “Build the wall! Build the wall!” Outside the White House, Trump supporters wearing anti-Clinton shirts yelled slurs. One man stood beside the protesters for a few minutes, blowing vape smoke in their direction.
This may be one of the last times that immigrants can so publicly and defiantly announce their undocumented status in front of the White House — which, starting on January 20, 2017, will house a fiercely xenophobic and anti-immigrant president for the next four years.
Already, some advocates are advising immigrants to lay low.
Some organizations are urging utmost discretion, telling first-time DACA applicants to hold of entirely on applying for the initiative and for current DACA recipients to hold off on renewing their work authorization permits.
“Mr. Trump has not been super clear about what the plan will be so we’re advising folks to hang tight for just a little bit,” Claudia Valenzuela, the Detention Project Director at the National Immigration Justice Center, told ThinkProgress. She said people should check in with an immigration attorney if they are applying for an immigration benefit.
“Based on what Mr. Trump has campaigned on, you are putting yourself at risk when you apply for any program.”
“Many are understandably very concerned that they have enrolled in the program, that they are on the government’s radar, that their information is obtainable. We have been advising to hold off on any further action on their cases,” Valenzuela said. “Our basic task is to let people know that based on what Mr. Trump has campaigned on, you are putting yourself at risk when you apply for any program.”
Since Trump’s triumph, immigrant advocacy groups have been scrambling to hold daily internal meetings, plan press conferences, and field hundreds of calls and walk-in appointments from undocumented immigrants who are scared about their future. Some advocates are already hearing that their clients plan to “self-deport” and leave the country on their own. Others are frustrated that they can’t give advice to their immigrant clients because they just don’t know exactly how Trump will commit to his campaign promises.
Kica Matos, the Director of Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice at the Center for Community Change, is working to create resources to guide DACA recipients navigate all the questions they have.
“There’s a tremendous amount of anxiety among the undocumented community,” Matos told ThinkProgress. “Our networks at the local level are organizing hotlines — so for example, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has already set up hotlines so that our advocates are able to have conversations with folks on the ground. We’re also putting together church meetings, house meetings, public meetings.”
The National Immigration Law Center (NILC), a public policy and legal organization that advocates for immigrants, issued a “Know your rights” checklist, pointing out that undocumented immigrants have certain basic rights when dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other law enforcement officers. The list includes the right to remain silent, asking ICE to show a warrant signed by a judge before opening the door, asking to speak to an attorney, carrying valid immigration documents, and creating a safety plan so that loved ones can know how to contact individuals detained by ICE.
In the meantime, a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesperson told ThinkProgress that the agency “remains focused on our mission to administer existing programs. We continue to direct those interested in DACA to our online resources at uscis.gov/DACA.”
“I think we’re feeling a great deal of sadness at the thought that this particular group could stand to lose some important protections.”
And given that Trump has supported limiting the number of green cards to legal immigrants, lawmakers like Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) are calling on people to apply for citizenship before Trump takes office.
Advocates like Valenzuela also have an important role to play reassuring undocumented immigrants that they are supported.
“We’re going to stand by them and really fight to not roll back some of these important benefits,” she said. “Many people have felt a sense of security that they haven’t had for years and I think we’re feeling a great deal of sadness at the thought that this particular group could stand to lose some important protections.”