Immigrants are scared: Some ways to help

President-elect Donald Trump won on Nov. 5 after a campaign that demonized immigrants and promised mass deportations, and that has stoked fears among many in the immigrant community. If you want to help them, there’s quite a bit you can do, advocates said.

Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance last summer raised fears among Springfield’s Haitian community as they repeated false claims that they were stealing and eating their neighbors’ pets.

The claims and the resulting bomb and death threats terrorized Springfield’s Haitians, and those fears have only grown since the election, members of the community said. Now many are worried that Trump will send them back to a violence-torn home country that lacks a functioning government.

“The Haitian community is anxious about what the incoming president will do, like ending (temporary protected status) for Haitian people and mass deportation,” Rose-Thamar Joseph of Springfield’s Haitian Community Opportunity Center said in an interview the week after the election. “We know the USA is a country of laws, but I don’t know what is going to happen. We are trying to educate the community to try to lower their stress, but that’s all we can do.”

Lynn Tramonte, founder of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said those fears extend far beyond Springfield’s Haitians.

“We work a lot with people who don’t have (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) or TPS, but are seeking asylum,” she said. Even though they don’t have a deportation order, they’re still worried about being swept up, Tramonte said.

“Quite frankly, we’re worried that the (incoming) administration doesn’t care very much about the law,” she said.

But Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, said there’s a lot people can do instead of just watching and worrying.

One is to call your congressperson, U.S. senator, and state lawmakers. Murray said people might think they’re not being listened to, but lawmakers usually keep careful track of how their constituents weigh in on key issues.

“Let your elected officials know,” she said. “What we’ve been telling people for a long time is ‘Call, call, call, call, call.’ Just leave a message. They will tally. They’ll count how many pros vs. anti they got, and that really matters, especially now.”

Also, if your representatives hold town-hall meetings, go voice your sentiments there, Murray said. And some constituents can even seek personal meetings with lawmakers and their staff, especially since Zoom now makes it convenient.

“Get those meetings,” Murray said. “Especially if you own a business in that district, you’re a pastor in that district, you’re in law enforcement in that district. You’re going to get listened to.”

Tramonte said her group put up a website with resources for immigrants. It also has links to Ohio’s regional immigrant-support groups. People who want to help should reach out to them, she said.

“People can join these coalitions,” Tramonte said. “They have regular meetings, and come up with plans of action. A lot of them are rapid response networks. Basically, it’s a group of concerned people who are willing to volunteer time and whatever is needed. It might be accompanying someone to an (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) appointment or to a hearing so that they’re not alone. It might be reacting if there’s an arrest of a community member.”

She said the groups identify problems and try to ease them.

“It’s all pretty organic,” Tramonte said. “There were (during the first Trump administration) bus-station welcoming committees near ICE detention centers because they just drop people off at the bus station and say good luck.”

The welcoming committees try to meet immigrants’ basic needs and help them get back to their support networks.

There are other ways to help. For example, if you know a foreign language, you can work with non-native English speakers in schools or other settings.

“There’s so much that can be done,” Tramonte said. “Whatever your skill is, there’s probably a way to get involved.”

Murray — whose organization works with typically right-of-center groups such as law-enforcement, business and the clergy — said one of the most important ways people can help immigrants is on the most local level of all.

“I don’t want people to overlook the conversation with their neighbor and their family member because it really matters,” she said. “We generally find that all but one person in the family is willing to listen. Those conversations are not happening in our country and they are hard. Especially if you think the country is turning in a way that you don’t think it should, it’s even more important to stop to listen and understand than ever before.”

Marty Schladen has been a reporter for decades, working in Indiana, Texas and other places before returning to his native Ohio to work at The Columbus Dispatch in 2017. He's won state and national journalism awards for investigations into utility regulation, public corruption, the environment, prescription drug spending and other matters.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.