For one undocumented Louisville man from Guatemala, sitting back and risking deportation isn’t an option.
The man said he and his 13-year-old daughter, who is also undocumented, are returning to his home country before Immigration and Customs Enforcement can deport him. LPM News is not naming the man to protect his privacy.
He said came to the United States to provide for his wife and other daughter in Guatemala, and he’s lived in Louisville since 2018.
“In Guatemala, I was a farmer and I didn’t make enough to support my family,” he told LPM, speaking through a translator. “It was me and my daughter’s decision to come to the U.S.”
He made 25 quetzales a day as a farmer, or about $3.50.
“Sometimes it was just two or three days a week,” he said.
He said he borrowed $8,000 from his family to help get here. He and his daughter spent 25 days traveling, facing hunger and thirst, before making it to Arizona.
When he arrived, ICE gave him some papers and a court date to get a work visa. He said he never showed up because he didn’t know where to go, didn’t know anyone and didn’t have a way to get there.
“My biggest fear is, if I get detained, they're gonna do a fingerprint, and then they're gonna know that I didn't show up to court and I have a case pending,” he said.
That could lead to the man being detained.
Boone County has the only full time ICE detention center in the state. The facility is lacking timely access to medical care and is often overcrowded for ICE detainees, according to a report by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting this week.
The man said he is certain no one would be able to take care of his daughter if he were deported without warning.
“I'm afraid because of my daughter, because I don't want her to suffer,” he said.
Through tears, he described his daughter’s journey. After they arrived in Kentucky, she started school, then learned how to read, write and speak English. Now, she can do multiplication and she loves her teachers.
“Donald Trump is saying that they're gonna send immigration to the school and the churches,” he said. “So we don't want to stay in this country like this.”
He said he and his daughter plan to return to Guatemala by bus by the end of this month. He’s leaving behind his friends, his home and the job where he works six days a week.
“I'm leaving my job because of the actions of Donald Trump,” he said. “It’s bothering us a lot, and so before it happens, me and my daughter, we better go.”
Although there haven’t been any mass raids in Louisville as of February, many people are on high alert. Rumors of ICE activity, including pictures of official vehicles, are circulating social media. Plus, it’s unclear how local police departments and the state might assist federal immigration agents.
In Kentucky, federal agents would likely need help from local police to meet their mass deportation goals. But many agencies are already understaffed and under-resourced, and few of them have formal policies for working with ICE, according to a recent KyCIR investigation.
At the same time, state lawmakers are considering bills that would limit local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE.
All these factors are contributing to fear in immigrant communities.
At a recent solidarity protest, Jose Ramirez said he’s noticed some Latinos are scared to leave their homes or go to work out of fear. Ramirez owns a tire shop in Louisville, and he said his customers have dwindled since last month.
“People are not shopping or not buying, and so we aren't making our living,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez said he hopes more Americans will recognize immigrants' contribution, including their impact on the economy. According to the American Immigration Council, immigrants generated $1.6 trillion dollars for the U.S. economy in 2022.
“We work in construction, agriculture, all kinds of fields,” Ramirez said. “I think we are very important for the economy.”
Louisville residents support immigrants
Dozens of Louisville students, teachers, families and other residents broke up the evening rush hour traffic on Bardstown Road in the Highlands earlier this month. Some drivers honked as people waved the Mexican flag high and chanted, “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido.”
It means “The people united will never be defeated.” It’s a phrase from a 1973 song by the same name by Chilean group Quilapayún. Now, it’s synonymous with solidarity.
Since Inauguration Day, Trump released a slew of executive orders, 10 of which would send ICE agents to cities to arrest undocumented immigrants and lead mass deportations.
Trump touted his support on the campaign trail and in his short time in office for increased immigration enforcement, citing national security concerns. He has called people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border “dangerous criminals” and dubbed border crossings “invasions.”
Recent news reports show many people without criminal histories have been deported. Being undocumented is a civil offense, unless a person re-enters the country after being deported.
For Louisville residents like Martha Sanchez, Trump’s rhetoric is far from the truth.
“Not all people that come into the United States are criminals,” she said. “I think that you have a lot of criminals in the United States [who] are homegrown. However, we need to respect the dignity of the people that are coming in and not just say, ‘Well, everybody's a criminal.’”
Sanchez held a sign with red letters that read, “Enforcement only policies create unmerciful and injust measures and actions.”
“We all want to follow the rules, but when you implement rules that are very strict, that's what they create. They create injustice. They create people that are going to be very merciless,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez used to live in Laredo, Texas, one of many U.S. cities that borders Mexico. Her mother’s house is two blocks from the Rio Grande, and her family saw many people crossing the river every day. Growing up, Sanchez and her family gave food and water to people at the border, she said.
“We help out people, period,” Sanchez said. “It doesn't matter. Regardless of their status, we don't ask those things. Do you have documents? That doesn't matter. You just help because, morally, that's what we should do.”
Sanchez said Trump’s immigration orders don't give immigrants a chance to succeed, especially those leaving their home country for a better life.
José Donis of Al Día en América contributed reporting.
