The article describes the experience of Hally, a Berkeley resident, who faced an unexpected visit from ICE officers conducting a welfare check related to immigrant children. Despite the officers' claims about their mission, Hally, having received know-your-rights training, refused to provide information. The situation highlights growing anxiety among immigrant communities in the wake of ICE's targeted actions under the Trump administration, with allegations that these checks are being used as a pretext for surveillance and intimidation of documented and undocumented immigrants alike.
ICE officers told Hally they were conducting a welfare check on migrant children known to have arrived unaccompanied in the U.S, and an immigrant family who applied for refugee status had previously lived at the residence. The children went to school and the adults paid taxes; they weren't underground in any sense, Chris Tiedemann, a retired lawyer volunteering legal advice for migrant families.
I try not to be paranoid, but I'm a lot more watchful, Hally said following the incident. Berkeleyside agreed to identify Hally by her first name only, because she feared retaliation and for the safety of the immigrant family.
In President Donald Trump's second term, his administration has moved to target some of the most vulnerable immigrants residing in the U.S., including in Berkeley, where at least one family was thrown into panic over a child welfare check. ICE agents have been increasingly conducting these types of visits across the country.
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