Walter Gozzer, married and father of two children, had been living in the United States for 30 years. To maintain his work visa, he had to report routinely to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) in Miramar (Florida). The last time his wife saw him was during his visit on February 20, 2019, when ICE agents decided to arrest him and send him to the Homestead Detention Center.
A month later, he was deported to Peru, where he has not yet managed to find work. His wife, who was a housewife, now cleans other homes to pay bills at the end of the month.
“When you do something bad, it doesn't matter if you are undocumented or not, you have to pay it. But my husband doesn't have a police ticket, absolutely nothing. In these cases, all they have come to is to work, to pay taxes, ”said Lily Montalván, Gozzer's wife.
Although President Donald Trump warned from the beginning of his Government that he would stop and deport the "bad men" who arrived in the United States, it is increasingly common for ICE to detain immigrants who have no criminal record.
Since the beginning of the government of President Donald Trump, arrests of immigrants with a criminal record decreased by 13%. In comparison, arrests of immigrants without a criminal record or who have not been convicted of any crime increased by 35%, according to an analysis made by Telemundo News to the annual ICE arrest reports.
An American Immigration Council study confirmed that arrests no longer only focus on immigrants who pose a threat to the security of the country , as happened in the government of Democrat Barack Obama. All undocumented immigrants (or permanent residents) with minor criminal offenses are now targeted by ICE, regardless of their socioeconomic or family ties in the United States.
“The president said that everyone in this country, regardless of personal history, would be the target of immigration law enforcement. The numbers reflect that, ”said Guillermo Cantor, director of research for this organization.
ICE divides its operations into 24 areas of responsibility. In the last two years, arrests of immigrants with no criminal record increased by 18 of those offices.
The Miami area of responsibility, which includes Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, registered the largest increase in arrests of immigrants without criminal records: they grew 113% between 2017 and 2019.
María Asunción Bilbao, from the United We Dream organization, said that in Florida, immigrants are detained in public areas just because of their appearance. Others are arrested for domestic violence after, in a family conflict, someone calls the police. Or caught by the police for driving without a license without driving.
Such is the case of Rubén Moroyoqui, a 45-year-old mechanic, who was arrested in 2017 while on his way to pick up auto parts. When he was arrested, the officer asked for his driver's license and asked if he was legally in the country. He was immediately made available to ICE, who tried to deport him to Mexico.
"I have great respect and love for this country," the father of four American children, who entered undocumentedly 16 years ago, told The Associated Press news agency.
Bud Conlin, an activist at the Miramar Protection Circle, added that it is now common for those immigrants who must appear with ICE to be routinely detained and deported, even though these types of people were not a priority with Obama.
“We see it all the time. Obama earned himself the nickname of chief athlete , but during his administration there was discretion and priorities. Since 2017 there is no discretion, there are no priorities, ”explained Conlin.
Of the 318,570 crimes for which 92,108 immigrants arrested by ICE were convicted last year, 88,823 (28%) were for traffic offenses , including driving under the influence of alcohol. Another 46,888 offenses (15%) were for immigration offenses, that is, entering the country illegally.
Activists warned that such offenses do not represent criminals that are truly a danger to communities.
“When resources are allocated to reach certain numbers or fees, ICE ends up going to a community, arresting people, making collateral arrests and causing a lot of pain to families and communities,” Cantor added.
Where are arrests of immigrants with no criminal record most common?
Where arrests increased between 2017 and 2019
Miami (Florida, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands): 113% increase
El Paso (West Texas, New Mexico): 83%
San Antonio (Central Texas): 83%
Salt Lake City (Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada): 77%
Dallas (North Texas, Oklahoma): 58%
Denver (Colorado, Wyoming): 45%
Houston (Southeast Texas): 45%
New York City (Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx and Duchess, Nassau, Putnam, Suffolk, Sullivan, Orange, Rockland, Ulster and Westchester counties): 43%
New Orleans (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee): 36%
Detroit (Michigan, Ohio): 33%
Chicago (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, Kansas): 28%
Phoenix (Arizona): 25%
Baltimore (Maryland): 25%
St. Paul (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota): 23%
Washington (District of Columbia and Virginia): 23%
Atlanta (Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina): 18%
Newark (New Jersey): 8%
Seattle (Alaska, Oregon, Washington): 4%
Where arrests decreased between 2017 and 2019
San Diego (San Diego and Imperial County): 51% decrease
San Francisco (Northern California, Hawaii, Guam): 32%
Boston (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont): 7%
Buffalo (North New York): 9%
Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino), and the Central Coast (Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo): 9%
Philadelphia (Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia): 18%
