With deportations at the top of Trump’s list, California immigrants ‘prepare for the worst’

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WASHINGTON — The morning after former President Trump won a second term on a promise to deport millions of immigrants, a line formed outside a Riverside County legal aid organization before it had even opened its doors.

Legal permanent residents wanted help applying for citizenship. Asylum seekers who had given the federal government their home addresses wondered whether they should pack up and move.

The TODEC Legal Center in Riverside County is helping immigrants prepare for another Trump presidency

(Mark Boster/For The Times)

A woman in the country illegally told the organization that her children had refused to go to school because they feared she would be detained while they were away. A man said he had stayed home from his landscaping job.

“It’s all hands on deck right now,” said Luz Gallegos, executive director of the TODEC Legal Center. “We have to prepare for the worst.”

Trump has listed mass deportations and the curtailing of temporary legal status for millions of immigrants as among his top priorities. His newly announced “border czar,” Tom Homan, said Monday that the Trump administration will prioritize deporting people who are living in the country illegally and pose a threat to public safety. He also said officials will increase workplace raids as part of a crackdown on labor and sex trafficking.

“If sanctuary cities don’t want to help us, then get out of the way, because we’re coming,” Homan said in an interview on “Fox & Friends.”

California leaders and immigrant rights organizations are responding with promises of legal action and assurances to protect immigrant residents from Trump policies. Gov. Gavin Newsom last week called a special session of the Legislature to safeguard the state’s progressive policies, including on immigration. California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has vowed to defend the state’s policies in court.

Advocates are urging the Biden administration to bolster protections for immigrants ahead of Trump’s inauguration by redesignating certain countries for temporary protected status and prioritizing pending work permit applications.

In California, they hope to expand programs offering pro bono legal representation to immigrants facing deportation proceedings. They will also push local governments to enshrine sanctuary policies that go beyond the state’s sanctuary law.

Luz Gallegos, executive director of the TODEC Legal Center … Read More