The Council of Albany Neighborhood Associations held a meeting Thursday night discussing the city's response to immigration enforcement.
CANA is a federation of neighborhood associations that deals with issues affecting the quality of life in Albany.
Responding to concerns and rumors surrounding the Trump administration’s immigration policies, CANA hosted the session at the main branch of the Albany Public Library.
Micky Jimenez, Executive Director of Capital District Latinos, says 80% of the newcomers to the area are of Hispanic origin.
"We average about 85 people coming families to a food pantry. It has gone down. We had one week, but we had 24 because of the fear, because people are telling us stories that they're being stopped on Central Avenue. We've had husbands that have been taken away, and now you have a mother and a family of five, and they don't know what to do, since he was a breadwinner. The food insecurity is so big, right? For all of us. However, last week, we had over 90 families come. Why? Because food insecurity trumped their fear of being taken away. That's our reality," said Jimenez.
Celia Radley is Operations Manager at the Refugee Welcome Center in West Hill. She says the center is also struggling to provide food and other services.
"We do, oftentimes, have people watching for immigration officers who might be milling about. Sometimes we'll get food ready for our families and bring it to them if they're too scared to come out," Radley said.
Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox says the department's number one goal is to keep people safe, and his officers never ask individuals what their legal status is.
"There's a whole bunch of legal things when it comes to issues around immigration enforcement that aren't in our hands anyways," Cox said. "This is a civil issue. This is a federal issue. The only time that we actually would have anything to do with enforcement is if there's a judicial warrant that we're aware of, and the only time that really ever happens if the person is already in our custody, otherwise, our stance, your immigration status is none of my business. We're here to serve you, plain and simple."
Cox says officers who are engaged in city schools are there to build relationships and keep kids safe.
Albany mother of three and DACA recipient Carmen Murillo is with the Albany City School District. She helps immigrant students with translations, government paperwork and walks them through programs. She says recent headlines have left them fearful.
"We kind of listen to them and help them as much as we can, to the families. I tell the kids while they're in our school, they're safe. I can't promise them what's going to happen outside, right? That is out of our control, basically. But while they're inside, I invite them to learn, to learn as much as they can their second language, because they will open so many doors," said Murillo.
Albany Law School Immigration Law Clinic Director Lauren DesRosiers says the president's spate of executive orders includes many that are troubling for newcomers, including one that opens the door to de-naturalize people.
"There's an expansion of expedited removal," said DesRosiers. "So expedited removal is when you basically don't get a hearing in front of an immigration court, you have only hearing in front of immigration officers. So an ICE officer is the person who is determining whether you have the ability to stay in the United States or not. That applies to anybody who has entered without exception, who has been in the United States for under two years. So that's a large number of people."
Mayor Kathy Sheehan's Chief of Staff David Galin offered words of reassurance, pointing to an Executive Order Sheehan signed eight years ago during the first Trump presidency:
"We need to make sure that people when they're coming for a dog license or a marriage license or to get their trash picked up, or to make sure that they are dealing with a traffic ticket, or they're the victim of a crime, and want to call APD because they need police assistance, that they're not worried that they're going to be questioned, that their immigration status is going to be questioned, and that's something that they're going to have to answer for," he said.
Galin, a candidate for city auditor, says Albany is a place where people can feel safe and have access to resources and services regardless of who they are and where they were born.
Cox stressed that APD does not participate in immigration enforcement and does not allow ICE access to its facilities.
