"Almost as quickly as they descended on Charlotte, sending terror coursing through the city's immigrant neighborhoods, the Border Patrol agents appeared mostly to be gone. After a weeklong enforcement surge in which the government said agents arrested hundreds of immigrants, nabbing many as they went about their daily lives, the Border Patrol set its sights on its next target, New Orleans. But as Charlotte's immigrant communities regroup from what felt like a whiplash operation last month, they're finding that its impacts on their lives and their city have endured, and could last a long time."
""It's like a hurricane came through," said Stephanie Sneed, chair of the Board of Education overseeing Charlotte's public school system, "and then we have to deal with the aftermath, which is much longer than the event itself." During the week in mid-November that the Border Patrol was roaming Charlotte, about 20 percent of its public school children stayed home from classes. Attendance started bouncing back the week after the agents left, but Sneed said teachers had reported some Latino children arriving at school with notes pinned to their backpacks reading: "I am a citizen." "I would never think that's something I would see," Sneed said."
Border Patrol conducted a weeklong enforcement surge in Charlotte that arrested hundreds of immigrants and then shifted operations toward New Orleans. The agents' presence sent terror through immigrant neighborhoods, producing about 20 percent absenteeism among public school children during the week. Attendance began to rebound after the agents left, but teachers reported Latino children arriving with notes reading "I am a citizen." Central Avenue and other pedestrian corridors that had been bustling emptied as families avoided public spaces. Community leaders compare the aftermath to a long recovery from a hurricane, with trust eroded and daily life disrupted.
Read at www.npr.org
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]