WASHINGTON – When National Guard troops were deployed here earlier this month, President Donald Trump promised they would fight crime and make the city safe again. But in neighborhoods like Columbia Heights, the acquisitions created a real sense of fear for immigrants. They feel racially targeted and living in the dystopian version of the city they love.
Immigration and immigration advocates told NBC News two weeks ago that the federal takeover of the country’s capital left “throwing away” vibrant communities and businesses. Naturalized citizens and people in the country said they were terrified illegally. People are afraid to go shopping for grocery items, they show up at work and go out into everyday life, they said.
Margarita, a 38-year-old mother of four, is an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador to the United States. She opened a Latino restaurant earlier this year and said half of her employees were too scared to come to work.
One employee came to tears after witnessing the arrest and “how they abused people in front of his face.” She said in Spanish.
Another employee said he was “trembling with fear,” and the federal officer felt that “the cat came out to catch a rat,” she said.
“I can’t tell people to come to work with sincerity. If something happens to them, it’s in my conscience,” Margarita said. Her business has been “very” affected, she added.
“It feels like another DC,” she said. “It’s scary to see what’s going on and how people are being traumatized.”
Margarita, along with other people spoken by the NBC News, sought to remain anonymous due to fears that they would not be identified by their original name and last name, or that they would be deported or targeted to speak up.
They said the city’s landscape has changed since Trump announced his federal takeover on August 11, with the goal of fighting crime and strengthening immigrant arrests. He sent over 2,200 National Guard personnel, now carrying firearms and hundreds more federal agencies to Washington. At the time of his announcement, violent crime had fallen by 26% compared to last year, according to data from DC police. Last week, the Department of Justice said it was investigating whether Washington police manipulated data to make crime rates appear lower.
White House officials said Tuesday that more than 1,000 arrests have been made in total since the National Guard was called. Officials refused to specify the number of immigrant arrests, but said “less than half of the arrests involved illegal aliens.”
White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said last week that the acquisition’s focus is “to make DC safe and beautiful and remove public safety threats and violent criminals from our streets.”
“If federal law enforcement comes across an illegal foreigner with the help of the Metropolitan Police Department, of course we will adhere to this administration’s law and order policy and we will remove illegal criminals from the country’s capital,” she said.
The administration highlights arrests of suspected gangs or arrests with a history of arrests or convicted of violent crimes, including allegations of assault or child sexual abuse.
A Washington resident said he witnessed arrests by a group that looked like immigration agents on the streets. Some people said officers are increasingly watching checkpoints where they have stopped all vehicles and are asking drivers for licenses.
Granados, a naturalized American citizen from El Salvador, lived in the United States for about 40 years, and in Spanish he and many other Latinos said, “I feel there is racial profiling here. Our people are hidden because of fear.” He asked that his full name not be used, despite him being a citizen, due to fear that he could be targeted.
Granados said he was walking through the centre of Columbia Heights. There, walking through the heart of Columbia Heights, where there is a large immigrant community, a federal agent said, “I grabbed two men and tied them down when I walked past them and threw them in the car and left.”
“I didn’t sleep, I felt bad,” he said, his voice grew with emotion.
He said he personally knows people who worked in the industry where he was arrested. “They are people who have done nothing. They abuse you without knowing who you are,” he said.
The Trump administration has denied allegations of racial profiling in immigrant arrests.
“It is adamantly wrong to say that an individual has been ‘targeted’ by law enforcement because of his skin color. What someone is targeting ice is not the skin colour, it’s that they are in our country. These types of smears are designed to demonize and exacerbate our brave ice law enforcement.
Amy Fisher, a core organizer of the Washington, DC Immigration Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, said the group is “enhancing delivery to immigrants of essential items such as food and diapers.”
The group has also seen an increase in “exponential” calls to the hotline. There, people report immigration enforcement actions and then relay them to the community.
“The hotline is like ringing from a hook,” Fisher said. Previously, they received dozens of calls a week, but after the acquisition, they received 500 calls from Monday to Friday in the first week of the federal acquisition.
Employees and owners of a Columbia Heights company told NBC News that the business was in pain as workers and customers disappeared due to the federal acquisition.
Genesis Quintero Remus, 20, is a green cardholder in El Salvador, a fruit vendor along with his mother, and said people are at risk of staying open.
“Because this is our only living,” she said. “I know a lot of workers, and I know they are hardworking people just there to offer their families.”
People are also scared due to recent immigrant raids, including Latino grocery stores, and nearby arrests. Quintero Remus said.
An employee of a bakery in Columbia Heights, a naturalized citizen of El Salvador, said, “Who are they targeting?
She said business is declining due to a decline in clientele and employers are cutting working hours. The constant presence of federal law enforcement has made people scared to be on the streets, she added.
“Being here doesn’t make me feel safe. I’m not safe at all,” said the woman who asked her to remain anonymous.
“Because of my complexion, I’m taken away and I’m scared that I’m a US citizen,” she said.
Aris Purs, owner of Threstalant in the region in the Dominican area, said the acquisition was “bad for the business.”
He said his message to Trump: “It’s not working. It’s an attack on the community. That’s how we see it. We’re the people, everyone, business owners, communities that feel it’s working.”
Daniela Silva was reported by New York City and reported by Washington, DC’s Megan Lebowitz
