El Sueño Americano
“When I spoke to these immigrant parents, what I heard most frequently was a deep fear and sense of abandonment on the part of the government that is supposed to serve them.”
Walking the streets of Chinatown on October 22nd 2025, you might think that the people you saw running were just running late for work. But, no. They were running for their lives. They were running to be able to stay with their families for just one more day.
ICE was present in Chinatown that day arresting street vendors and anyone who appeared to look like an immigrant in their eyes. A day that was supposed to be used for work was used for hiding in someone else's apartment having no way of getting home. Someone I know watched their co-workers get detained by ICE agents and knew that if they didn’t run, they would be next. So, they ran in order to be as far away as possible from those ICE agents. Luckily, a woman who saw the danger, opened her doors for the people who were running away just so they could have a safe space to stay. This luck doesn’t come easily to many folks in New York City, and in the United States in general.
Joel Camas and his mother before his arrest on October 23rd, 2025
The next day, on October 23rd 2025, 16 year old Joel Camas was detained by ICE agents while he was at his check-in in lower Manhattan. Camas came to the U.S with his mother to escape the gang violence present in Ecuador. When Camas first came to the U.S, he was caught but he was granted a second chance to stay in the U.S since he was a minor. He was granted protection against the actions of ICE. However, this protection wasn’t taken into account when he was arrested during his check-in to the agency. Camas' lawyer actually spoke out about this and stated that Camas was qualified forSpecial Immigrant Juvenile status, which means that the Federal Government agrees that he should be able to have a lawful permanent residency since he was either neglected, abused or abandoned. The actions that ICE took were a violation to the Constitution and the U.S immigration law. They arrested a child who has a right to be in this country.
ICE has not only made these violations once. No. They have made this violation 48 times. In the months of June and July of this year, they arrested 48 children. 32 out of 48 of those children were deported and carried away from their lives in the U.S.
Children who came to this country for a better chance are being taken away from this opportunity. A country that is supposed to bring hope to people's lives is bringing fear to everyone's daily lives. Mamadou Mouctar Diallo, Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema and Dylan Lopez Contreras are only a few examples of children being torn away from their lives in the U.S. There are far more children being targeted by ICE, which will only keep increasing day by day and needs to be stopped.
“I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public…Using whatever means necessary to do so”
- President Trump, July 12th, 2025
To get a more in-depth insight of how much effect ICE has on people's lives, I conducted interviews with people to see what they thought about ICE. I talked to parents who are immigrants themselves, and who, for the sake of safety, will remain anonymous. The type of questions they were asked consisted of their thoughts on how the ICE raids affected them, their own emotions towards the issue, and how ICE raids impacted their community at the moment and in the future.
When I spoke to these immigrant parents, what I heard most frequently was a deep fear and sense of abandonment on the part of the government that is supposed to serve them. They each felt that ICE’s actions were wildly rude and disrespectful. They believe that ICE has moved away from their original mission of catching criminal immigrants and are now just targeting anyone who seems like an immigrant despite not having any criminal record. This targeting causes a sense of deep fear and abandonment. It is the fear of getting caught by ICE and not knowing the next steps after your deportation. Most immigrant families have no idea where their loved ones are after they get locked up. This mindset of not being able to contact your loved ones after getting caught is something that brings great fear to the immigrant parents I interviewed.
Now, you may think that all of that might cause the daily lives of these immigrant parents to change…but they don’t. Change can’t happen in their lives just because of ICE raids. They still need to go out and work to help provide for their families just like everyone else (immigrant and even non-immigrant). Change isn’t easy for them despite the deep fear and sense of abandonment they have.
“We were elected to clean up the mess of this country, and we have millions and millions of people who were criminals, who were murderers, who were everything you can imagine. Drug lords, drugs dealers, they came in from prisons and from mental institutions. And I was elected to move them out”
- President Trump, April 21st, 2025
Social media is a key source of information on the ICE Raids, which is exactly what the immigrant parents are using to stay updated. No one has seen ICE in-person because they all take safe precautions to avoid them. However, one immigrant parent that I interviewed had a story to tell. They have a friend who recently got detained by ICE. Their friend was just walking to his house from work when ICE agents approached him. They first asked him if he knew a specific person they were looking for and then switched to asking him about his legal status. This interaction soon led to his arrest which was soon learned about from family and friends. Everyone was in a moment of grief and confusion; no one knew the next steps they could take. If anyone did try to help, it could risk their own safety of getting detained as well. Not being able to help a friend was a stab to the heart of this immigrant parent.
In addition, the presence of ICE raids has also affected our community. A shift in the community was seen by all immigrant parents I interviewed. The once busy streets in the Bronx now feel quiet and empty because of the intense fear everyone has. Street vendors don’t like going outside anymore because of the slight chance that ICE can show up anytime and people rush home after school or work for the exact same reason as well. The community isn’t the same like the way it used to be, and it’s very noticeable by many. This shift in community can also bring intense consequences, an anxiety stated by the immigrant parents. Protests can increase even more than they are right now, and this may not end well depending on the response of the police, the government, and even the people.
ICE is an issue that will keep being relevant for the next 4 years with Donald Trump as president. No matter what happens, ICE will keep impacting people's lives. Even if ICE doesn’t seem relevant to you, it is always impacting everyone around you. Your teacher, your best friend, your train conductor, and even the strangers you see on the street can be the ones being affected. ICE will always affect your community even if you may not think it does. As the ICE presence grows, so does the community resistance. This is why you should always know what is happening around your neighborhood and bring support to anyone who is impacted.