Nearly 50 immigration advocates stood at Woodson Road and Stansberry Avenue in Woodson Terrace on Thursday evening, calling for an end to increased deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after President Donald Trump signed an executive order enforcing the action during his first week back in office.
The group continued efforts from last weekend鈥檚 protest in Overland, standing in cold, cloudy conditions and holding signs that read, 鈥淓ventually you鈥檒l run out of people to exploit鈥� and 鈥淣o human is illegal on stolen land.鈥�
Thousands of people since Sunday across the country, including in Chicago and New York City. The department has over 20 field offices across the U.S. ICE has not responded to requests for comment.
Oliver Jurado, 23, of Woodson Terrace, said the deportations are triggering after his parents had to close their grocery store in St. John, Missouri, 15 years ago. He said police and ICE used to park outside his family鈥檚 store and profile Black and Brown clients, leading to a decline in business.
Jurado's parents have since sold their business and pursued different careers. And while no one close to him has been deported, some have recently been questioned by ICE, he said.
鈥淎 lot of the people that I grew up with, and a lot of the people who watched me grow up, they're all at risk right now,鈥� Jurado said. 鈥淓veryone's scared.鈥�
However, some city and county leaders in the St. Louis region said they haven鈥檛 been in contact with ICE and that ICE hasn鈥檛 contacted them about sweeps in the area. Earlier this week, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said the city remains a sanctuary.
"St. Louis is a welcoming city, as evidenced by our establishment of the Office of New Americans to connect resettling people from all over the world who are choosing St. Louis as their home to connect them to jobs, housing and other resources they can thrive,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淲e will continue this work.鈥�
At least 11 people in St. Charles County arrested on unrelated charges are believed to be illegal immigrants. They are being held at the St. Charles County Jail, according to county officials.
St. Charles County Police spokesman Barry Bayles said if an illegal immigrant is arrested for any given reason, Homeland Security is informed, but the county does not handle immigration matters beyond that. He said the county has not been in communication with ICE and confirmed that St. Charles County does not have a contract with ICE to hold undocumented immigrants.
鈥淭hey've not reached out to us,鈥� Bayles said. 鈥淭here's been no discussions. We don't know what direction we'd go on it yet because it's not been broached with us.鈥�
St. Louis County Police Department officials also said they don鈥檛 have any partnerships with federal law enforcement agencies to perform and enforce immigration duties.
St. Charles County Manager Kevin Killeen said the county will contact ICE about the 11 individuals after their local charges are handled.
鈥淭hey weren't picked up because of their immigration status, but they are believed to be illegal immigrants, and that after their local stuff is taken care of, then ICE would be notified that we have these people here that we believe are not in the country legally,鈥� Killeen said. 鈥淏ut apparently there hasn't been any directive from ICE saying, 鈥榃ho have you got?鈥�
Rumors about ICE being spotted in the region have stirred up fear and anxiety, and there鈥檚 been a lack of clarity about the validity of some of the claims, particularly since some officials in the area say they haven鈥檛 been in contact with the federal agency.
Elisa Bender, of Florissant and a Hispanic Festival, Inc. board member, said she鈥檚 been advised to always carry her passports for safety. Her family moved to the U.S. from Bolivia in the 1960s. Despite efforts to remain safe, she said the community feels increasingly targeted and fearful of the future under current political policies.
鈥淵ou could be at the grocery store, and all of a sudden, ICE is right outside picking people up,鈥� Bender said. 鈥淭here's a lot of fear. There also is some concern with, you know, people reporting ICE is here, and there isn鈥檛 ICE there.鈥�
