'Really hard to see': Town hall explores ICE enforcement and how residents can support families

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Five months ago, Elizabeth DeJesus stood inside Lehigh County Courthouse and watched her husband taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents.

As she held back tears Thursday, DeJesus recounted that moment before a packed room at the "ICE in the Lehigh Valley: What You Need to Know" town hall meeting in the United Steelworkers Union Hall.

DeJesus's husband, Darwin Contreras Rodriguez, 27, a Freedom High School graduate, had appeared for a routine court date in June after entering the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for a nonviolent DUI charge.

Instead, DeJesus said, two ICE agents detained her spouse, who moved from El Salvador to the United States with his family when he was 7.

" The sheriff's deputy had opened the two glass doors for two ICE agents who were already at the courthouse," DeJesus said.

"I could see through the glass doors, and I saw and heard them putting chains on him. That was really hard to see."

DeJesus said she has seen her husband since his detainment and that the two can talk via a tablet he is provided in jail.

But a question lingers: Will he be back at home to ring in the new year, or, even better, to celebrate the holidays?

On Dec. 22, Rodriguez is scheduled to appear in court, where immigration attorney Elliott Love said they will make the case that his detainment was "unconstitutional."

"The hope would be that he'll be able to get a bond hearing and be released from ICE detention and fight his case from home," Love said.

Ways to support one another

The couple’s story set the tone Thursday for a broader talk about ICE activity in the Lehigh Valley.

The discussion included remarks from DeJesus, Love, Lehigh County Commissioner Jon Irons and Clarice James, founder of M.I.R.A. Resources, a nonprofit supporting migrants, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

Moderated by Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, the 90-minute forum focused on what immigration enforcement actually looks like, what ICE is legally permitted to do, and the situations in which families should never feel pressured to comply.

Panelists also outlined ways the community can support one another, such as sharing information and connecting families with legal and emergency resources.

Irons, a Democrat and native of Ecuador, and Love are among the leaders who helped organize the Lehigh Valley Emergency Response Network, or ERN, in July.

At the town hall, several of its volunteers were on hand to share information about the network, its hotline number, and the next training session scheduled for Jan. 30.

The grassroots organization is partly in response to an ICE worksite enforcementoperation in which 17 people were arrested in June for alleged immigration violations at the Five10 Flats apartment building in South Bethlehem.

'Under the radar'

"We've seen that ICE in the Lehigh Valley has been operating very much sort of under the radar — business as usual type of stuff," Irons said.

"Which means that they're leaning into existing relationships and connections that they have to local, municipal, law enforcement and county governments.

"While we did have that bombastic raid that happened at the Five10 Flats over the summer, most of the work, as far as we can tell, is done privately at people's residences.

"There's definitely been some detentions that are happening out in the community, but we're not seeing like ICE agents running through the streets as we've seen in Chicago, Charlotte, Memphis, and" New Orleans.

Irons also alleged that ICE is "using the courthouses" in Northampton and Lehigh counties to detain individuals, as in DeJesus' husband's case.

"People who are showing up for their regular due process, judicial sort of appearances and hearings, [ICE] has an opportunity to detain them," Irons said.

Ways to help

James said her nonprofit not only connects thousands of individuals and families with critical resources, but also works to dismantle the stigma that paints immigrants and asylum seekers as “violent.”

"Every three months we [have] around 1,500 people, and throughout that number we may see one person who has a violent criminal background, even if that," she said.

The M.I.R.A. website also offers free resources, including printable “I Have Rights” or “Tengo Derechos” cards, as well as helpful tips to create a rapid response plan.

 "We inform our clients that they are to carry whatever documentation they have with them," James said.

"For example, if they have a green card, make sure the green card is always with you.

"If they are undocumented, they should have a plan, which may include information about an attorney, medical information, and custodial information if you have a child."

While Love urged residents to recognize that even if they cannot change federal policy, they still have real influence at the local level.

“Everyone in this room has skills,” he said, noting that the ERN Network relies on volunteers to provide food and mutual aid, and to alert neighbors when ICE activity is suspected.

“We need people who can help meet that burden for families, who can pressure local politicians, who can share information," he said.

"That’s what the ERN is for — signing people up to do the work."

Irons and Pinsley emphasized that civic engagement is just as vital.

"Show up to county meetings. Have an objective. Support the officials who are fighting for you,” Irons said.

“Do not normalize what is happening,” he said as the room applauded.

“It’s easy, especially with the slow rise of autocracy, to accept seeing people pulled into cars by masked agents. We cannot let that become normal.”