Gaspar Avendano Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant, and his girlfriend’s son, Erick Diaz Cruz, were both shot by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) this past week, according to Annie Correal and Ed Shanahan’s article, “A Traffic Arrest, a Visit from ICE, and a Shooting,” in the New York Times, page A25, on Tuesday, February 11. 

 

Avendano was on his way to work when ICE officers came to his home to detain him. As he was being detained, Avendano was shot with a stun gun. When Cruz came out to help Avendano, he, too, was shot by an ICE officer. The bullet pierced Cruz’s cheek and lodged behind his ear.

(Retrieved from the New York Times website)

This altercation is just one of many between ICE and the U.S.’s community of undocumented immigrants. Spokespersons from ICE argue that detainment would run more smoothly if local law enforcement in sanctuary locations would cooperate with the organization. These local law enforcement, however, see maintaining sanctuary policies as fundamental to building trust between them and the majority of their populations. 

 

This story, coupled with the already negative media circulating about ICE via Twitter and Facebook, paints ICE as what New York City mayor Bill De Blasio called an “illegitimate force.” According to the article, the men did not initially address themselves as ICE representatives, nor were they in any type of uniform. Many consider ICE as a physical manifestation of President Donald Trump’s agenda.

 

Yet, ICE representatives are putting the blame on New York City law enforcement, claiming that if the city officials would comply with ICE’s request to keep undocumented persons in a “detainer” until ICE officials could move them, then incidents like Mr. Avendano’s would not occur. 

 

Putting any political affiliations aside, I personally think ICE should start bumping up its professionalism if it wants to yield the power it seeks. Local law enforcement is not going to comply with ICE’s mandates if sanctuary policies protect them from compliance, and if ICE continues to disrupt the safety within these communities. Specifically, the organization should focus on building relationships with these local government entities if it wants to achieve its goals — barging into communities out of surprise is no longer working, and quite frankly, it’s dangerous. 

 

As for New York City and other sanctuary cities alike, I believe their current messaging is clear and well received. According to the article, New York City officials have already made statements stressing the importance of having sanctuary policies “to maintain the trust between the city’s three million immigrants, including more than one million New Yorkers who are undocumented or live in a mixed status household.”

 

With a public group this large, it is vital to continue spreading messages of trust such as this. Moving forward, though, the city will have to do more than vocally defying ICE. With the shooting in New York City, and already 4 shootings this year by ICE officials, publics will become concerned about the extent to which their cities are actually protecting them. I argue that now is the time to push for new legislation that would deter ICE from these cities, if possible.