Fear of ICE pushes Washington DC daycare workers into hiding

Daycare workers in Washington, D.C. take children only short distances because increased immigration enforcement raises the risk of detention. Teachers avoid trips to public library, free museums, and the zoo, and many have gone nearly a year without those outings. One caregiver, using a changed name for privacy, rarely leaves home and monitors WhatsApp alerts about immigration sweeps. Workers adjust routines by separating when walking together and creating a plan for notifying parents and contacting a supervisor if someone is arrested. The fear of being detained shapes daily decisions, including willingness to protect staff and instructions to authorities if detained. Trump’s second-term actions targeted sanctuary cities, and emergency measures tightened enforcement in the capital.

"Since President Donald Trump stepped up his offensive against immigrants in the capital last year, the daycare workers all vulnerable to deportation avoid going very far. They used to take the children to the neighborhood public library, the capital's free museums or the zoo. Now they have gone nearly a year without doing so. The fear of being detained by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shapes their daily lives."

"Delia the name was changed to protect her identity has hardly left the house for months, watching out for WhatsApp alerts about immigration sweeps in the area. We have examples from our own teachers: if two were walking together they would take one and leave the children with the other. Faced with that risk, she drew up a plan with the caregivers: the one who isn't arrested must notify the children's parents and contact her."

"She says she's willing to risk the life she built over 20 years in the United States to protect her employees. I tell them: If we're found on the street and detained, don't worry I will turn myself in first.' The WhatsApp group that tracks ICE At the start of his second term, Trump again targeted sanctuary cities, which limit cooperation with immigration authorities."

"Washington, D.C. was particularly exposed: unlike states, the district does not have the same protections over its autonomy. The net tightened around the capital in August last year, when the president deployed the National Guard, temporarily placed the local police under his command and declared a crime emergency, despite official data showing a decline in violent crime. What followed was a wave of arrests that exceeded 1,500 detention"

Read at english.elpais.com