Immigration and border security.

They were major issues in the presidential election.

They are being released by the tens of thousands.

And so we must.

Reform our immigration.

System.

Now, amid a.

Crackdown on immigration by President Donald Trump, some local residents are living.

In fear.

We're not criminals at all.

We just want a better life on.

This community conversation.

Immigration close to home here from those working to keep their families in the country.

Experts on immigration law and more on the issues that have arisen in the Lehigh Valley amid changes in U.S. policy.

Coming to you from the Univest public media Center in Bethlehem.

Here is your host, Brittany Sweeney.

Good evening and welcome to our community conversation.

Immigration Close to Home, presented by PBS39 91.3 WLVR Radio and Lehigh Valley News.com.

Since taking office more than a month ago, President Trump has put the fight for tighter immigration regulations at the top of his To-Do list.

He's working towards fulfilling a campaign promise to reduce illegal immigration and deport people who are here without permission, especially those with criminal backgrounds.

All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the.

Process of returning millions and millions of.

Criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.

Under the Biden administration's U.S. border, patrols encountered with encounters with migrants reached record highs.

Now, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

11 million illegal migrants lived in the U.S. as of 2022.

Now, policy changes with the new administration are having ripple effects across the country in health care, law enforcement, cities and schools, and the fight over who should be allowed here and who shouldn't is a real issue.

One that trickles down to the community level.

That's why we're here tonight.

During this program, we want to hear from you.

Your thoughts, your input, your concerns as we take questions from our audience.

You can also chat with us if you're using a live stream this evening, and you can put your questions in the chat.

We also want to hear from the folks familiar with these issues and explore what the changes mean right here in our community.

Pennsylvania is in a border state, but even here, the numbers underscore the issue.

PA has almost a million immigrant residents, nearly 8% of the state population.

Over 150,000 of those are undocumented, lacking permanent legal status and without authorization, according to the American Immigration Council.

Here in the Lehigh Valley, almost 11% of our population is estimated to be foreign born, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The region has become a relocation hotspot for both international and domestic migration.

Between 2020 and 2023, more than 11,000 people moved here, split almost evenly between people moving from outside the country and Puerto Rico, as well as from within.

And many of those who come here say they've made the journey to give their children a better life.

Living in a standard dorm room.

I am a first generation student.

On a typical U.S. college.

I am studying international studies.

Marbella Ramos is in her second semester at a Lehigh Valley school.

Here I am, just like trying to accomplish my goals and make my parents proud.

During the summer, I worked almost like 50 to 60 hours per week so I could earn some money and saved all that money for college.

The 18 year old is tackling her full time course load and earning money to put herself through school, but her stress goes beyond that of a typical college student.

My parents are undocumented.

My dad is from Guatemala and my mom is from Honduras.

Tell me about your parents.

So my parents immigrated here like almost two decades ago.

Did they say it was dangerous or.

They don't really talk about it.

They have told me many stories about it.

They have told me that even like the toughest guys, the toughest looking guys even cry during the process.

It was only two weeks, but for them, it felt like really an eternity because there was no food, no water.

Her parents could face deportation at any moment.

The freshman was born in the United States, granting her birthright citizenship, which is at risk due to an executive order signed by President Trump.

Honestly, we can't do anything about it for now.

So I'm just, like, working hard as a college student.

And when I turn 21, I really hope to sponsor them because definitely, they have worked hard.

My dad is working a lot of overtime right now, so it's like he's working like almost 12 hours per day.

And even Sundays.

He loves working so much because he says if I'm not working, then there's no support in this house.

So that's his mentality.

Her father is a coal miner in northeastern Pennsylvania and has been for more than a decade.

While her mother stays home looking after Marbella 16 year old sister.

She says they fled their countries out of fear.

There's a lot of danger.

All these gangs and all of that manipulate the president and it's just so many corruption.

Like we cannot solve anything.

People are fear from the gangs because they kill.

They do like so many stuff and torture to people.

Now, after more than 20 years in this country, her family fears being separated under the latest immigration crackdowns.

I don't want people to think that we're criminals.

We just want better lives here.

So, yeah.

With more than two years until she turns 21, the college student says she's feeling the pressure of paying for college.

Earning a degree and worrying about her parents safety.

I hope everything goes well, even though, we're going through hard right now with all this immigration stuff, but I hope that everything goes well.

I just really hope that i can sponsor my parents soon.

In the meantime, she says she plans to continue saving for school and preparing for the day that she can legally fight for her family.

We're a community, and we really hope that even though we're like in this process, we just hope that something so there could be some change in like the policies and things like that because, definitely we're not criminals at all.

We just want a better life, and we just want to work hard towards our goals and just be happy as everyone else.

We thank Marbella for sharing her family's story.

According to U.S. law, being in the country without authorization is a civil violation.

But those who enter without permission can face criminal charges.

And there are pathways for people to come to the country legally.

To break that down and to take a closer look at immigration law, we are joined now by attorney Ray LaHood from LaHood law Group and Allentown Muhlenberg College.

Spanish professor Erica Southerland, who is part of the organization Grupo de Apollo, an immigrant support group, and attorney Mike Rennison from Lehigh Immigration in Bethlehem.

Thank you all so much for joining us.

Thanks for having us.

Mike, let's start with you.

We just kind of broke it down there.

It's a civil offense to be here, undocumented, but there are some lines there that you can cross into the criminal territory.

So is it legal to be here undocumented or illegal?

Well, I think like the term legal and illegal are sort of misused because to be here without lawful status doesn't mean that you're a criminal.

I mean, you're basically here without a fulfilling a civil immigration law, but that doesn't necessarily imply that you're a criminal.

And I think there's been a lot of blurring lines, especially lately with politics, where people are basically saying, if you're here without lawful status, you're a criminal.

And I think that's a gross, obviously a gross over characterization.

I mean, millions of people are not criminals.

They're not actively committing crimes.

So I think that's a very scary thing to hear.

People in positions of power.

Saying, Erika, you're working with a lot of these people.

Where is that line?

Are you hearing people say, as we just heard Marabella say, that she is worried that people think they're criminals.

Are you hearing that from the folks that you work with?

Absolutely.

There's a lot of fear in the community, a tremendous amount of fear.

And I actually have to second what Mike has said about just that whole notion of illegality.

And particularly with the new administration coming in.

They're changing the rules, are changing the definitions.

And now everyone who's not a legal permanent resident, almost by default is being called a criminal, which doesn't make sense at all.

There's a huge spectrum of legality or lawful presence.

If you are in status, for example, applying for, domestic violence humanitarian visa, well, these things don't happen overnight, but until you get that visa approved, at this point, you're considered illegal when actually you're in the process of applying for something.

Political asylum is, again, that's a process that can take a very long time.

And while you're in process, you used to be considered an immigrant, someone who is there in status but not a permanent status.

And that whole notion of a permanent and permanent status, there's also the notion of, how you come into the country in the first place.

If you come in with inspection, passing through immigration, you are in a different category than if you come without inspection.

Here in the Lehigh Valley, the vast majority of the immigrant community, be it documented or undocumented, came in on an airplane, came in with a visa.

And so those who have fallen out of status overstayed the visa for whatever reason or in whatever way.

And I think that, again, is something that's important to understand.

If you came in with a visa, it's actually much easier to adjust your status given certain supports and certain, conditions.

What we are hearing in the community is people are saying, well, what am I?

I'm waiting for this.

I've been waiting patiently.

I've been doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

And yet now I'm being called a criminal.

People are panicking.

I'm sure we're going to get more into that.

But, Ray, as we were going down some of the numbers earlier in the program, you said those numbers seem drastically low.

So what are some of the estimations of undocumented people here in the Lehigh Valley versus the state?

Absolutely.

I do want to kind of just just touch base on on what was said here.

I mean, there is, I believe, an agreement among immigration practitioners and judges and like that, those that are in a process or in proceedings are, you know, seeking, protection of the Violence Against Women Act or political asylum or going through a process.

I mean, there's still, you know, what they have been defined as in the past has hasn't changed.

Maybe culture has changed it and call them, you know, criminals or the like.

So that that's still there, there's still that level of protection there while they go through that process.

The rhetoric doesn't match that.

Well.

The public rhetoric isn't the law, though, and that's that's the fact of the matter, you know, and another and just one more thing.

If I could too, is, you know, the fact that the crossing of the border crossing, the physical crossing of the border, I'm not trying devil's advocate, but the physical crossing of the border, if seen by a Customs and Border Protection agent and they can identify it.

And it was seen that it actually is considered a crime.

So so, you know, it's and I'm not saying it should be I'm not saying it is, but but there is a, there is a it's considered a federal crime.

But to prove that you've violated that, you would have literally have the person from CBP seeing you, watching you walking across the border.

So in essence, they are they're going back to that, you know, when they come when it comes to you, I think.

They also like kind of that point.

One of the problems that we have right now is the consequences that you face for violating a civil immigration law is so severe.

I mean, people are say, well, you're here and you don't belong here.

So whatever we're doing to take you out is not we're not really harming you.

We're just correcting what you made.

Where were you in the error you made?

The reality is, you know, the consequences extreme to a lot of people.

And what's interesting is the criminal laws, which we've all acknowledged have exceedingly horrible consequences when you get caught and we realize what we need to sometimes protect people and have certain due process rights for people who are being charged with a criminal offense, that development hasn't really happened in the immigration world.

I mean, I think people speak about immigration law and they think with all these judges and there's this court process.

But the development of the immigration court is sometimes shocking, really low.

I mean, your record, given the circumstances that some of these families are going to experience when they're deported and the consequences, I mean, maybe not obviously being killed, but some of them will die.

I mean, some people will go back and they will die.

And we have a question from one of our audience members.

And this kind of gears up to that question.

You know, we are hearing that there aren't enough judges, that cases are backlogged, that it's taking years for these cases to move through the legal system.

So we ask, does it need to be updated and the viewer question, our audience member today asks, what are critical changes that could be made right now to fix this?

Are there any?

Ray?

Anything shy of comprehensive immigration reform is just not a fix.

I mean, quite honestly, our members of Congress actually have to do something, and they have to start working with whomever is in office, whether it was by an anti Trump, the next person who's in office.

And we've had opportunities to have comprehensive immigration reform under the Bush administration in prior administrations, but they've just kept kicking the can down the, you know, down the down the hall and and have done nothing.

And now we're going through a time because of the failure of our members of Congress to take any action, because we've needed comprehensive immigration reform.

A going back to the numbers we were talking about earlier, I would say we have about 40 million people in this country without papers.

They were using the number 11,000,000 in 20 12 or 11.

I mean, I mean, if you think about it, the got two ways that have come here that people have come here and I've overstayed visa.

There are a lot of people that don't have proper documentation in the United States.

So you're saying it's grossly underestimate made it.

But but how do we really track all of that.

Well that's do they want to be tracked one and two does does the government really want to give the, you know, conspiracy theories.

But do they really want to give that that big number out there, which are quite frankly, our economy is incredibly dependent on a lot of these these individuals, they're not all, you know, gang members and the like, but some of them are, you know, incredible contributors to our communities.

Sure.

So, Erica, I do want to ask you, we heard from our college student in the piece, we talked a little bit about folks who are undocumented kind of taking on this name as criminals, and so are they.

Being called criminals more often than not because of the most current administration?

Or is this something that's been ongoing?

And then I ask our two lawyers here, how many of your clients have criminal backgrounds who are undocumented?

There has been a distinct shift since the election in November.

And then jumping into the executive order, Carnival that happened on the first day of, Trump's, administration.

Really?

What had been nervousness turned into panic.

And what had been maybe small comments has turned into actual outright bullying and actual outright insults and actual people choosing not to go shopping, people choosing not to go to churches.

I'm partnering with one of our local Pentecostal pastors, to do a series of videos to basically say, please come to church, we need you in church.

You can't stay away from church.

And it's just so sad that in that most sacred place, a church, people are afraid to go.

Know our church pews vacant right now.

Well, I'm not going to say that they're vacant, but they're certainly diminished in population.

I actually went out to Walmart this the Saturday after, the burst of executive orders, and I'm not a big Walmart shopper, but when I go, I know I'm going to bump into my Hispanic friends and colleagues that the aisles were empty and I was shocked.

I was really shocked because I've never been to an empty Walmart.

And that's just fear.

If I may, though, yes, it's to me at this point for those people who don't have any criminal records, an arrest or the like, I think it's a it's a bit of an overreaction because of the rhetoric and the words, at least right now.

Okay.

I don't know, because the arrests that have been made, have been, largely people without criminal records, the collateral damage of an arrest, there's collapse.

And I think that that's a pretty big issue, even.

If the offense that you're charged with, let's say you're here without any documentation, or maybe you overstayed your visa and you're in the process of actually becoming a resident.

In my experience, especially during the Trump administration, you know, 1.0, and I'm sure it will happen now, too.

And right, frankly, between then and now as well, people who are without documentation will say, just in general, who get charged and then have to go to court, say, for driving without a license.

Or maybe they have, disturbing the peace or anything, literally, that requires them to appear in front of a magistrate judge for a preliminary hearing can very easily and oftentimes do get arrested at after the hearing or at some point in that, you know, law enforcement process, whether they have some kind of requirement to go to, an adult supervision probation thing.

Somehow the Ice officers just seem to know when they're going to be there.

And then they ended up getting, you know, detained and, you know, whether or not they're going to get residency or not.

They still get detained, which I think is sort of a waste of government resources.

But but, you know, I would add, though, there is a lot of fear that's being created by the media, by the mainstream media, where you have, you know, one news station is reporting, you know, you know, massive arrests of, you know, gangs and the like and showing Tom Hollman And, you know, this loud voice telling this is going to destroy the world.

And then you have, you know, you know, some other media stations that are, you know, are, you know, using, you know, quote unquote sympathy part of it.

And they're really pushing it to the, to the extremes in so many respects.

There are collateral arrest.

Collateral arrests are let's say that, that Ice Immigration Customs Enforcement is coming to do an arrest of somebody who is wanted may have an issue much more than a DUI.

And somebody some.

Yeah, there could be other people that that are there with them that have no arrests but without without documentation.

That's what a collateral arrest.

Yeah.

And how how often is that happening?

The criminal arrest versus the collateral arrest.

They happen at the same time.

They happen at the same time.

But the numbers so far and these are estimates, of course, but something like 12% of the arrests so far have been for people with criminal convictions, which leaves 88% of people without criminal convictions.

And I think that should give us pause.

I do want to add one thing that we haven't really talked about, and that is that, when people come to the border and at that first encounter with the Border Patrol said that they're going to be applying for political asylum and are let in, technically they're not in the political asylum process.

It takes maybe as much as a year to even get that started.

But now they're in complete limbo right now.

And what happened a lot under the Biden administration, many, many more, tens of thousands more people were coming in through that avenue.

And so they've kind of got lumped in with the people who are illegal border crossers, where technically, by international law, they're not they're asylum seekers.

But here in the United States, they've somehow gotten put into the pot of illegal border crossers.

Erica, that leads us to one of our, audience questions here, a very basic question from Tony in Bethlehem.

So how long does it take to become a citizen?

What does it cost?

And is there a streamlined process at the very base of the.

Where do we start with this one here?

So it's a question you get every.

Day, I mean, right, can you guarantee me it?

I mean, the first first question, we never guarantee, you know, the first is, is there a potential pathway to work your way up to citizenship, which is the last thing that you can go for after you've gone through an asylum trial, you've gone through appeals, you've gone through to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals after it's been denied.

I made it back.

I actually say like citizenship is what I want because that's where the game and and I feel like people fight so hard just to get residency.

It takes so long.

And by the time they get there, they're like, why would I ever get back in this on this train?

Like it's been so again.

Do they not want me here?

And you know, you're hearing, well, that.

Brings.

It to you.

Bring the question up.

You know they're they're gaining residency and then they're also, able to work.

And so how does someone get a job in this country if they're undocumented?

Oh, employers hire.

Yeah.

What can I say?

Is there any, repercussions for employers right now that they're facing minimal.

They're minimal.

I mean, if they're if if they if Congress that again, Congress really wanted to, you know, get a handle on this quote unquote immigration problem.

They would just man, they would just mandate E-Verify.

They would force every employer E-Verify.

Is this instantaneous check of documentation records.

And it comes up with the big, you know, no or yes.

And if it's a no, I mean, it's pretty clear.

It's pretty obvious.

And it's pretty, pretty correct when it comes out.

That person can't be hired.

They're just it's not they have E-Verify.

It's a voluntary to if for an employer to enroll in E-Verify, which they would use to check on the status of their, their employees and the reasons it's voluntary is because we all know that if you made it mandatory, you'd have a lot of organizations, companies of all sizes, of all types, losing a lot of employees, because if they do come back as a negative, then to the employers on, on on notice that the person is without, you know, documents.

So, so really that's where the core of it starts.

Honestly.

Yeah.

Another one of our other exceptions.

Well, another one of our audience questions comes from Sue from Orfield.

And she wants to know who can I contact and how can I support a very anxious immigrant community right now?

Erica, this I mean, as a as an immigrant support group, what are you telling your folks?

What are you telling their neighbors?

Well, this is what we do.

We actually had a program at Muhlenberg College, a couple of weeks ago that was titled, get informed and Stay Calm.

The idea being that we really need to encourage people to not freak out.

And that's not just immigrants and immigrant families.

And I should point out that many, many, many families, have someone in the great, the greater family.

It could be the boyfriend of someone, it could be an uncle.

And and there's many, many families that are mixed status.

But just stay calm.

And to know your rights, to know what you're able to do, know what you're not able to do.

We encourage people to get their paperwork in order.

Everyone needs to have a passport from whatever country they come from.

You need to have some kind of positive ID.

You need to know you're not.

Give it to ice, though.

And.

Yeah, that's a separate issue.

I think the other thing, too, is like, don't you know, everyone else freaking out is not good because then people with the ability to come become residents.

I feel like, are so terrified with this echo chamber situation that a lot of people can become residents.

Right now, there's still windows of opportunity that are open and may not be open in a couple of years.

Just like Trump 1.0 where, you know, didn't happen all over all it, you know, overnight.

It took a while.

Yeah.

But by the time that presidency ended, I kind of felt like it was for if this were to continue in for another four years, I'm not sure I'll have a job.

Well, I mean, so I think but now though, there's still a lot of chances for people.

And I hate to see someone who's so scared of because of everything that's being said, you know, on the news and, you know, social media not to take advantage of what they can do.

These executive orders, though, are all being challenged in federal courts.

And what what's very common when they get rid of TPS for Haiti or for Venezuela is you'll find the federal court will put a temporary injunction that prevents the, the administration from actually acting on it.

And oftentimes, as it happened during Trump 1.0, the stay or the temporary, the injunction actually outlasts in Trump's term.

So then get a new president.

Come in.

So so, you know, it's I call it the Trump bump.

And and you know there's, there's, there's like there you never know.

You know, what could happen there.

Maybe this could be the, the, you know, the point where people actually wake up and, and actually Congress wakes up and does something.

No, no disrespect to members of Congress, though.

And I think just like maybe the the answer I would have is, you know, if you have someone who's looking for help, the best thing that you can do is actually speak to someone who knows immigration law and can give them a clear idea like, this is what you you don't have to hire that attorney or whoever it is that you hopefully a competent individual that gives you the consultation, but at least know what you're dealing with.

And then, you know, maybe if you don't have the money at that time, start saving.

But, you know, don't just go to a notorious or a travel agency or your uncle or someone who's.

Go to the professional as well.

Yeah.

I mean, I feel like there's so many cases.

There's some great information here.

We're going to hopefully get back to you folks in just a little bit with some more audience questions.

Attorney Ray LaHood, Professor Erica Southerland and attorney race Ray Rennison.

Mike Rennison, excuse me.

Thank you all so much for joining us.

We have to move on, but we will come back to you.

Thank you so much.

And recently, Lehigh Valley Congressman Ryan McKenzie called on Northampton County to rescind a policy that limits cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It involves the handing over of undocumented inmates being released from Northampton County Prison to Ice agents.

Five years ago, in March 2020, Northampton County Executive issued an order prohibiting county law enforcement from cooperating with Ice unless Ice acquired arrest warrants before working to capture criminal illegal immigrants.

Recently, the dangerous result of this policy were put on clear display in our local community and placed law enforcement, and the general public in greater danger in our community of the Lehigh Valley.

Two weeks ago, Ice agents arrested Luis Waldron Waldron outside of the Northampton County Prison, which is situated within the seventh district of Pennsylvania that I've been elected to represent.

According to Ice, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Waldron near Brownsville, Texas, in December of 2023 for illegally entering the United States.

He was served the next day with a notice to appear before an immigration judge.

Five months later, he had made his way all the way to our local community, and he was arrested in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on charges of indecent assault against a minor.

My office has spoken twice, and they explained that allowing this predator to leave the prison rather than be arrested while already detained, greatly increased the possibility for escape from capture as this prisoner is now could have been now free on the streets.

It also increases the danger to those law enforcement individuals who have to make the rest in an uncontrolled environment, and it puts the public in greater danger as this predator has a greater chance of escaping justice.

And Representative Mackenzie declined to join our conversation this evening.

We were able to sit down with the person who set that policy in motion, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, who earlier today announced he's running for Congress next year.

Lamont, thank you so much for sitting down with us.

You're welcome.

All right.

And so let's get right down to the issue.

Where did this policy come from five years ago.

Why was it instated?

Well, Brittany, I think first you need to understand something.

My point of view is that any person who is undocumented in the United States of America who commits a crime should be deported.

But that statement you just showed from Ryan McKenzie is replete with errors, and it's very unfortunate.

And I think it's a very complicated issue.

And unfortunately, Ryan McKenzie doesn't really do complicated issues all that well.

And I hope during our conversation here today, you know, we can help your viewers understand what the situation is, and maybe Ryan McKenzie can learn something from it as well.

So why was this put into place?

Oh, so in, 2020, there was an arrest made in our courthouse that caused quite a ruckus.

And one of the things that we thought at the time was we need to balance the federal government, the federal government's interest in enforcing our immigration laws, because I do believe, too, that our federal government needs to enforce our immigration laws.

But there's also another interest that needs to be balanced, and that's the United States Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution.

So in Northampton County, we can believe these two things are true at the same time.

One, that people here unlawfully who commit crimes need to be deported.

And two, the constitutional protections that everyone has while they're in this country also need to be respected because we respect the rule of law in Northampton County.

Lamont, are you afraid that this poses a safety risk for the people in Northampton County to let this prisoner out before Ice detains?

Oh absolutely not.

We honor Ice detainers.

We hold undocumented people convicted of crimes for 48 hours after a Northampton County Common Pleas Court judge lets them go.

So the judge, in a robe, sitting up on the bench says, you're free to go.

And in Northampton County, we say, not so fast.

We're honoring the Ice detainer.

We're holding you for another 48 hours.

But to Ice, we say the Constitution of the United States of America and the Pennsylvania Constitution requires you to give us a warrant reviewed by a neutral magistrate, either a federal magistrate or a federal judge, that gives you a warrant to give us the power to give it give that person over to the federal government.

And here's the issue.

I need to balance the interests between protecting the community, which we're doing by honoring the Ice detainers and not getting the taxpayers of Northampton County exposed to multi-million dollar lawsuits because we unconstitutionally restrain somebody, even an undocumented person.

What are some of the problems with letting those Ice officials into the prison?

So that's the problem.

You are handing a person over who is no longer in custody.

A judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County has released them.

It isn't Lamont McClure who's released this person.

It's the judge.

And so what I'm saying is, I am honoring the Ice detainer for another 48 hours.

And one of the great, I think, misperceptions that Ice and Ryan McKenzie are spreading is that we don't cooperate.

We do cooperate.

We tell Ice the date and the time when the person is being released, and we have video to demonstrate how smoothly the releases are going.

So there is no danger to the community whatsoever, because I'm protecting public safety and I'm protecting the taxpayers at the same time.

And I am upholding the rule of law.

Now, I know these things are complicated, and somebody like Ryan McKenzie, who has no experience running anything or doing complicated things, wouldn't understand it.

And of course, ICE is politicizing the issue.

But we're balancing all these very important issues.

So what about the inmate?

Are they made aware that Ice is going to be waiting for them?

That there is a warrant out or they're going to be detained?

They know that there is a Ice detainer, a federal government detainer on them when they're in the prison there.

They are aware that they're going to be picked up by ice when they're leaving the courthouse.

And we have video of, of the, of these exchanges and they're going very smoothly.

There's no danger to the community.

There's no danger to Ice agents.

There's not going to be any escape.

It's just they're not telling the truth about it for political reasons.

Lamont, how often is this happening in the prisons where Ice is showing up to take inmates who are being released?

So it just depends.

We have, at any given time, about ten to a dozen people incarcerated in Northampton County Prison who are, have Ice detainers, which we honor.

I can't repeat that enough, Brittany.

We honor Ice detainers, but we also honor the rule of law, the Constitution of the United States of America.

If someone's going to arrest you, they are entitled to due process.

And, we'll insist on that.

And we'll protect the taxpayers of Northampton County and make sure they're not exposed to multi-million dollar lawsuits.

So when it comes to Northampton County, is this policy unique just to our area?

Well, it's very interesting.

Like a week or two ago, I saw the Berks County commissioner being interviewed about this very same issue.

And at one point they were one.

Two weeks ago they were very conservative.

Berks County, the majority commissioners there are very pro Trump.

Some might even say MAGA.

And they were only holding people unlawfully in the country who have committed crimes for 2 to 4 hours.

I'm holding them for 48 hours, which is the maximum we can hold them.

So we're we're cooperating with Ice.

We're trying to help the federal government enforce our immigration laws, but balancing these other important interests as well.

I'm sure this isn't the last we've heard from you on this issue.

Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you so much for having me.

And I note that after McClure's announcement this afternoon, a spokesman for Congressman McKenzie issued a statement calling out McClure's, quote, steadfast refusal to fully cooperate with law enforcement.

And we want to take a moment to encourage our studio audience to submit questions.

You can write those questions on the card provided, and a member of our staff will be around to collect them.

Our streaming audience can also ask questions in the live chat.

Many of the people coming to this country to seek asylum or start a new life are children.

Some come with family.

Others are unaccompanied.

The most recent numbers show U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 137,000 encounters with unaccompanied children in 2023.

We met with a group serving youth new to the country as they acclimate into the school setting.

Buenos días.

¿Cómo estás?

Spanish greetings are heard as Rachel Rutter addresses a classroom full of about two dozen students in eastern Pennsylvania.

We've almost had like somebody lost by times.

This is by.

Miss Rutter is the founder and executive director of Project Libertad, a nonprofit that serves immigrant youth across the state.

With school programs like this one.

They're really focused on the newest newcomers.

It's designed to create a safe space for them here at school, help them adapt to school.

Help them feel like they have a community here where they can speak their language.

They can get support with learning English, but they can also, in the rest of the time, speak their language, have adults that are trusted, that can communicate with them in their best language.

They appreciate learning more about their own culture.

Being able to talk about their own culture.

Feeling safe in a safe spot that they can speak in front of each other.

Next, I remember on this particular day, the middle and high schoolers are learning how to pronounce different landscapes.

Remember three syllables, though?

Okay.

No volcano.

Okay.

The benefit of the program is that children learn to retain the customs and the origins of their language, their countries, their culture, which is most important for them to be proud of who they are, where they are from, and their culture.

And make examples like these that explain your country.

And this is just a glimpse into what Project Libertad does.

Rutter’s team also provides legal and social services to immigrant youth who recently arrived in the United States.

There is no right to a court appointed lawyer for anybody in immigration proceedings, including children.

So if they don't have a lawyer, they would have to represent themselves in court and will most likely be deported.

It makes a big difference on the outcome of their case, whether they have an attorney or not.

Okay, as an inspirational person, the attorney currently represents about 90 young people in their immigration cases, including a 17 year old seeking citizenship from Guatemala.

When they came looking for a better future, writer says this client has been here for about three years and is close to getting her green card.

It's a little piece for them.

From Guatemala, and I left because there was a lot of violence and because a lot of people are being killed.

Most of those children and young adults working with Project Libertad came to the country as an unaccompanied minor.

What that means is that they arrived at the border or came to the US, but usually it's through the border without a parent or legal guardian as a minor under 18, and they don't have a lawful immigration status.

These young people are then referred to the nonprofit through friends, family or school staff.

Project Libertad then connects clients to social services as well.

And I had so many clients who had so many other needs outside of just their legal case.

I had teenagers who were homeless and there weren't services for them.

Kids who needed food, clothes, etc.. Now, with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency or Ice enhancing their operations, those working firsthand with the children say there's more panic than in years past.

There's a lot of fear.

I've been getting a ton of questions from my clients and their families.

Even kids who have a pretty permanent legal status, are asking if they're going to be deported or if something is going to change.

We have had students who have asked us if they come within the school building.

Are you going to lock your classroom door?

Are you going to keep us safe?

Because they do have the fear of whether or not someone will come into the building.

You write your name on your paper because we're going to use these again.

Despite the immigration crackdown, those working with immigrant children continue to their day to day work.

I want people to know that my students are important, that they give within the community.

They are here for a purpose, which is to improve their life, their parents have brought them here in order to give them a better opportunity in life.

They want to get educated.

Though the nonprofit serves children and young adults, Rutter says they try to get as much information as possible to all ages of people in the communities they serve.

My number one thing is to talk to a lawyer.

If you don't have status.

Talk to a lawyer and find out what options you might have.

Know what your legal rights are so that you know what to do.

If you find yourself in touch with ice.

And have a plan with your family in case of some somebody being detained or deported.

An emergency plan.

And that would be my advice under or under any president Thank you to Project Libertad for welcoming us into the classroom.

And under another of President Trump's new executive orders, Ice can now enter previously protected places like schools and churches to take those who are undocumented into custody.

Here now to discuss what's happening in local schools is Bethlehem area Superintendent Jack Silva and Easton Area Superintendent Tracy Piazza.

Thank you both so much for joining us.

Thank you for having us.

And we have an audience question right off the bat.

And Jack, this comes in for you.

This is from Mike.

And he ask, Does Bethlehem Area School District cooperate with law enforcement activity in regards to immigration status?

The Bethlehem Area School District follows what the law has been for public schools for over the last 40 years, and that we do not ask students when they register or while they are with us, anything about their immigration status.

We don't, collect any type of residence information that would reveal whether the, the person or the family is undocumented and we don't keep any lists.

So if you live within the territorial boundaries, excuse me, of the Bethlehem Area School District, you're welcomed into our school district.

Just as any other student.

And we don't we take a blind view towards their immigration status.

The rules have traditionally been, and this is what our counsel and our local law enforcement have supported us doing, which is unless someone comes in with a signed warrant from a judge that is looking for the arrest or for materials related to a student, we don't provide it.

So if a of a law enforcement official comes in with a warrant, obviously we don't want students, whether they're undocumented or a naturalized or native born students, to be criminals in our schools.

And then we would participate, but not as a rule.

And just to clarify, we heard about Ice detainers earlier.

This is not an Ice detainer.

This is a judge signed warrant.

Correct?

Correct.

Okay.

And Traci, is it a similar policy over in your district?

It is.

Very similar.

It's actually exactly the same.

It is without, exception that we do not ask for individuals or security numbers.

We don't ask for their status here if they live in our demographic area, they are welcome in our school in an unbiased and inclusive manner.

And we find that it's our right and responsibility to educate all the students who live within our demographic area.

Similarly to what Doctor Silva had just mentioned, we have very strict regulations and policies for every visitor on our school campus and how they enter into our buildings and what kind of identification we're asking for.

And so that's regardless of the reason that you're coming to visit.

Certainly, if an official, agent from Ice or anywhere else comes with a judicial warrant that's, you know, bound by, judge documentation, then we would have that conversation and decide what the next course of action is.

I will say that we are not going to, break the law, and we're going to operate within the laws both on the protection of students, but also with regulation to law enforcement.

And so that's a delicate balance at times.

And the biggest advice that we talk about for our staff is to take pause.

No visitor requires immediate attention, meaning you don't have to hand over things or panic.

Easier said than done.

You take, you know, time to identify the person, look at the paperwork that is being shown, understand the reasoning for being there, and then actually seek help from central office and sometimes our law firms as well as to next steps.

Luckily, we have not been faced with that, nor do I believe Bethlehem has.

At this point.

You do on the same?

Sure.

Do undocumented students have a legal right to an education in our school districts?

Yeah, we believe so.

We we do not ask about their status.

So we would know whether if they're undocumented or not.

So, as a resident of the community, we responsible for educating all of our residents.

And I would include those students.

Are we hearing about any Ice officials coming into schools at this moment?

You know, we heard about this executive order and, you know, the decision to let Ice officials, if they need to go into schools or churches.

But is it happening?

It to our knowledge, it is not happening across the Lehigh Valley.

In fact, meetings that Jack and I attend together, most recent as Friday, I believe the, the information that we received is it has not happened across the United States.

That's not to say that it won't happen.

And particularly for students at this point in time who have a criminal record, you know, in the area that is being classified right now is their first wave.

But to date, that has not happened in our local region.

We haven't had zero, as far as Ice visits of our schools or any request related to immigration.

And this is my 39th year in K-12 education.

And in my entire career, I've had zero interactions with Ice or requests for, information where the body of undocumented students.

We have another viewer question.

Superintendent Silva, this is for you.

This is from Sonia from Fountain Hill.

She says, in our schools, we have parents who are scared to send their kids to school right now.

Yet we're required to report students with excessive absences to authorities and a magistrate.

So will any exceptions be made for these students?

Attendance is a, in the eyes of the school district, different than immigration enforcement.

So what we do related to compulsory school laws and attendance laws will go forward.

Although I do understand what that parent and that family are feeling like, knowing the interactions with schools when they become more engaged with other institutions or other public officials, can bring a lot of fear to the family and to the student and it's our responsibility.

And we are allowed to do this under law as a school district, to share information with families about what their rights are under the law and we do that through our community school coordinators.

We do it through our English language learning services, ESL office, or just referring the students to the National Immigration Law Center.

So yes, we we maintain our compulsory education procedures and policy.

That's important.

But we also understand how those are affecting families.

And, Superintendent Piazza, are we seeing absences among these populations of students right now?

We are.

And, you know, in Easton, it's exactly the same as as Doctor Silva mentioned.

We also follow compulsory education.

One of the you know, I don't know, that's an exception.

But what we expect is that prior to a place that any child documented or undocumented, it reaches a critical point where there would be legal action for absenteeism, that there's been conversations with parents, preferably in person.

But for some, they're afraid to come in in person.

So then their conversations over the phone or visiting homes.

But yes, we absolutely have seen an uptick in our number of our students who feel unsecure or unsafe in coming to school or not necessarily in school, but leaving their home and knowing what might happen there.

And we also face that as as new residents to the community are registering students, that question is asked almost 100% of the time, or what are you going to ensure our safety here?

Or can you ensure our safety here?

And that's a loaded question because there are no guarantees in anything in life.

Has that been a question that you've heard for years, or is this just starting to pop up more often?

I would say, it is certainly asked more frequently.

More often, more often.

Now it is one that certainly has been asked over the years, but more frequently since the executive orders.

Sure.

And we have Joyce from Emmaus.

She says Ice is going into churches.

Ice going into churches is in litigation right now.

There's litigation surrounding that.

Do you expect that schools might join that?

And also, once again become off limits?

We would, schools should be a safe place for students.

I think hospitals, if of a child or a family is seeking medical attention, that's in the public good for that.

That person, that, resident of our of our community to get what they need.

If a family wants to learn about the laws and their rights under law, where are they going to learn?

And they're able to get to school.

And if they're going to be part of a community and contribute in ethical ways to building their community, they belong in church, safely there.

So, we have always view that those institutions should be safe havens.

And that's why the Supreme Court has had the laws for the last 42 years that allow districts, and I would imagine hospitals and churches, to protect those families.

Jack and Tracy, what can staffers at your schools do to ease the fears of both the parents and the students?

And are there any resources for these folks right now in the community?

Tracy.

So I think first and foremost, is the relationships, right to be have open and transparent conversations with all of our students, particularly those right now who are having some concerns around this issue that the teacher builds a relationship with him, that they are a source of information for them.

Jack mentioned many resources that are out there within the community, and Easton’s very much the same.

It's, you know, it's through our ESL department.

It's through some of our lawyers who offer some, support through consultation.

It's through community documentations and advocacy groups.

So that information is there.

I will say our ESL department is a huge component, proponent of, dispersing literature to families as needed.

But I think the biggest pieces is really relationships that our families feel safe enough to ask questions, and our teachers feel open enough and confident enough to respond back.

Or the teacher themselves seeks support from someone else within the district on how to, you know, reply or respond to our families.

Sure.

Are you having students who are maybe going home and finding their parents not there?

Is that a whole other part of this?

We haven't found that particular case.

We've had more students who might feel a little more reserved at school, have a little bit of a higher absence rate.

I think the younger children, the elementary students, don't quite understand, although they they pick up on the anxieties that they may be feeling at home.

But older students, like high school students one two and do talk about it in their classroom.

So our part of our public information campaign included school people, our teachers, and how to talk and have those conversations with families when they're expressing themselves.

So it's coming up.

And how about in your district over in Easton area?

Yeah, in Easton, similar to to Bethlehem, We have not experienced that per se, but we did just recently, similar to the clip that you saw, from the Northampton, a Hampton prison.

We did have a family experience, a similar, experience where someone was incarcerated over a, you know, X amount of time and was released and detained immediately thereafter.

From Ice and the youngster in our district did not have an empty home to go home to, but she did have a family who was fearful on how she was going to get from school to home.

And what was the implications for their family.

Right.

Some really important information here.

Jack Silver from Bethlehem Area School District and Tracy Piazza from the Easton Area School District.

Thank you so much for weighing in.

We're going to open the floor now to more of our audience questions and bring back in our professor and to lawyers.

Thank you for your input as well.

So we're going to ask a question here from Andrew of Orfield.

He said, what are the major differences between the Ice policies of the Biden administration and the current Trump administration?

Mike, would you like to take that one?

Yeah.

It's, that's a great question.

And, Ray, actually, we were talking about this before we began.

But, you know, there couldn't be two more different policies right now.

Under Biden.

It was so, I hate to say it, but lack saying you could get a case dismissed without even showing a form of relief once the case was dismissed.

Which kind of beg the question?

Well, why are we detaining people and then putting them into a removal proceeding?

If the policy is to just dismiss the removal proceeding, which I think was a bad idea because it created a pretty intense wave of people coming in that now, you know, we have to do something about, now I feel like the opposite is happening where people have relief available.

And I think there's still scenarios where because of the numbers that Ice, removal operations have to make by, you know, I think it's at 75 arrest per day quota.

They're arresting people that there's no point in arresting them.

I mean, they're going to be released, they're going to get residency.

And it's almost like the exact opposite.

It just doesn't make sense.

Ray, we have another question from an audience member.

Kevin of Center Valley is asking, was the legislation that enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress last session?

In fact, is it something you would consider comprehensive immigration reform?

That's a great question and is absolutely was nothing close to comprehensive immigration reform.

That was not even a Band-Aid.

I believe comprehensive immigration reform is a complete overhaul of the system to reflect the way, you know, immigration migration should happen today.

It includes, you know, changing the employment based visa system to allow more employees and, you know, changing the the student visa processes, you know, a potential pathway to, to, to citizenship status for those who've been here for a long time.

But, you know, I and the the, the can the part that's critical to a comprehensive immigration reform is reforming that.

But in 1988, 1989, when President Reagan mentioned him, I had immigration reform, the whole purpose of it was to, you know, give everybody legalization, you know, make them citizens and or and prevent the problem, the, the issue from coming up again.

They they failed.

They gave everybody amnesty.

But before they did anything to prevent the concern from coming again.

So, so comprehensive immigration reform is broad that, that that bill was it was just a quite honestly, was just a political joke.

Our.

Erica, we have another one for you.

And this kind of brings the economy into the conversation, which I think is a whole other hour of conversation.

But Bill is asking what will be the impact on our local economy and availability of things like agriculture, construction workers.

If we send all of our local undocumented or illegal immigrants away.

Utter chaos and collapse?

It's just that simple.

The people who come here, to Lehigh Valley come here because because there is work.

There's work to be done.

And it's good paying work.

It's work that, if, American citizens wanted to take it, they could, but there's choices being made.

And immigrants are coming in, and we always talk about, well, they're undercutting the salaries of American workers.

Not necessarily.

There's a lot of people who are working at very well-paying jobs.

And they're very good at what they do.

These are tough jobs.

Often, construction, landscaping, and distribution centers here in the Lehigh Valley.

I should note that, I actually got involved with working with immigrants, after the first ever workplace raid up in Scranton.

And, after two weeks of trying, they found two Americans willing to take the jobs, and they ended up hiring, with a nine month prepaid contract, nine month housing and airfare to and from Mexico.

They hired a new crew of people, and it just boggled my mind.

And these were this was back in 1994, and they were being paid $25 an hour, which in 1994 was a lot of money, gross work, we'll give you that.

But it was a lot of money.

And I kept thinking, this is ridiculous.

A why aren't Americans taking these jobs?

And b wouldn't have been easier to just keep the people who are already there have kids in schools.

They're trained, they know what they're doing.

It just that was what really lit the fire for me to start working on behalf of immigrants.

But in terms of the local economy, it's 11% of, 11% of our economy locally is powered by undocumented workers.

Ray?

Ray, we have just a couple seconds if you want to add a few things.

And I'm assuming that you were talking about when they came back in, they came in under a valid, like, work visa, and that's H2B visa.

There's only like 35 or 45,000 of those visas available a year.

That's comprehensive immigration reform because we need the workers to come in.

There's just conversation can continue on and on.

There's so much to address.

But thank you all so much for joining us for our community conversation.

Immigration close to home.

Thank you and have a good night.