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Jose Sanchez says as an attorney, 性视界传媒渁lmost nothing shocks me anymore.性视界传媒�

Then, on Jan. 21, the Department of Homeland Security announced that schools, hospitals and churches were now open to immigration actions by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, better known as ICE.

Even for a seasoned attorney like Sanchez, who handles immigration cases as well as other types of law at his Longview firm, the announcement caught him off guard: 性视界传媒淭he tone they used about going into churches or schools, that was pretty surprising.性视界传媒�

President Donald Trump性视界传媒檚 border czar, Tom Homan, reaffirmed the federal government性视界传媒檚 willingness to at K-12 schools five days later, adding, 性视界传媒淗ow many MS-13 members are the age 14 to 17? Many of them.性视界传媒�

Gregg County officials are adamant that such federal raids are unlikely in area school districts and that, if they were to occur, the operations would exclusively target serious criminals.

Nevertheless, news of the policy shift reverberated through immigrant communities in Gregg County, prompting Longview ISD to issue a statement reassuring families that student information would only be provided to law enforcement upon receiving a court order signed by a federal judge.

性视界传媒淚 can tell you that our office phone is ringing non-stop,性视界传媒� Sanchez said. 性视界传媒淭here性视界传媒檚 a real fear factor.性视界传媒�

A protest this past week in Longview against the Trump administration zeroed in on the president性视界传媒檚 immigration policy, highlighting the gulf between county officials advising calm and immigrant communities uncertain if federal arrests will stop at 性视界传媒渢he bad guys性视界传媒� or morph into something larger and indiscriminate.

Available data on recent ICE arrests call the precision of raids into doubt, while researchers studying the supposed link between undocumented immigrants and crime have struggled to find one, casting doubt on the assumption of migrants as an urgent public safety threat.

性视界传媒榃ork hand-and-hand性视界传媒� with ICE

Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt and County Sheriff Maxey Cerliano are celebrating an expanding partnership with U.S. immigration authorities they say will keep residents safe from migrant criminals.

性视界传媒淲e性视界传媒檙e going to work hand-and-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder with ICE,性视界传媒� Stoudt said.

Neither judge nor sheriff believe Homan性视界传媒檚 statements on entering schools or Trump性视界传媒檚 call for during his electoral campaign will materialize in Gregg County.

They said local ICE personnel have not communicated any plans resembling those feared by immigrant communities or their advocates, with Stoudt adding, 性视界传媒淚t性视界传媒檚 not about anything but the real bad guys right now.性视界传媒�

However, when pressed if the county would still work hand-and-hand with ICE if raids on schools or churches became a reality, Stoudt said, 性视界传媒淚f they性视界传媒檙e in this country illegally, they性视界传媒檒l have to face it sooner or later.性视界传媒�

The two long-standing county officials had differing explanations for the growing fear around federal deportation policies.

For Stoudt, it was a combination of 性视界传媒渓iberal propaganda性视界传媒� and the sense that 性视界传媒渘obody knows what Trump性视界传媒檚 intentions are,性视界传媒� creating uncertainty, then speculation. For Cerliano, the atmosphere of confusion reflects the disconnect between Washington immigration officials uttering sound bites and the operational realities on the ground.

Gregg commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a contract with Department of Homeland Security called a jail enforcement agreement, allowing local officers trained and deputized by the federal agency to interrogate suspected non-citizens booked into the Gregg County Jail. Names and biometric information also are processed through a national database.

Officers in the 287G program notify federal agents when a suspected non-citizen has made bond or satisfied his or her jail time, at which point ICE has 48 hours to take the person into custody.

After Trump took office, the Gregg County Sheriff性视界传媒檚 Office was contacted by Department of Homeland Security to gauge its interest in the agreement.

性视界传媒淢y response was, 性视界传媒楢bsolutely,性视界传媒櫺允咏绱綕 Cerliano said.

Participation in the 287G program is voluntary. Cerliano said his office submitted the program application in 2019, where it sat until Trump性视界传媒檚 second term began.

About 70% of ICE arrests through the last decade were the result of prisons and local jails cooperating with federal agents, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy group.

Sanctuary states, counties and cities that limit cooperation with immigration authorities, such as 287G agreements, saw no measurable increase in crime and a reduction in deportations of non-citizens who were not convicted of a crime, according to a published in PNAS, the official peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cerliano as well as sheriffs in Smith and Cherokee counties have stated that, in order to avoid racial profiling, officers will not be asking for proof of citizenship during traffic stops.

Collateral damage of 性视界传媒榯argeted性视界传媒� raids

Descriptions of recent ICE actions as precise 性视界传媒� 性视界传媒渢argeted性视界传媒� exclusively at criminals 性视界传媒� contrast against an emerging picture of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record caught in the middle.

On a Sunday in late January, ICE reported arrests of 1,179 people. Internal arrest data obtained by revealed how half of the people taken into custody (52%) were classified as 性视界传媒渃riminal arrests.性视界传媒�

The remaining tally appeared to consist of 性视界传媒渘on-violent offenders or people who have not committed any criminal offense other than crossing the border,性视界传媒� NBC News reported. Two of the 1,000-plus people reflected in the single day arrest figure were considered gang members, while eight were considered 性视界传媒渨orst criminals arrested.性视界传媒�

Crossing the border illegally is a civil, rather than a criminal, offense, according to federal law. However, reentering the country after a previous deportation is a criminal offense.

Federal authorities have largely declined to share any detailed data about the criminal history of arrestees, making it difficult to verify claims of precise targeting, reported Feb. 1.

Sanchez, the Longview immigration attorney, said immigrants 性视界传媒渁re not in favor of harboring serious criminals or felons in their community either.性视界传媒�

He said what he and immigrant advocates have a problem with is what the federal government calls 性视界传媒渃ollateral arrests,性视界传媒� where people without legal status are arrested along with people convicted or suspected of committing a crime during the course of a raid.

Collateral arrests were banned under the Biden administration.

Sanchez sketched a vignette of what a collateral arrest can look like: 性视界传媒淪ay they性视界传媒檙e going after somebody else, whether it性视界传媒檚 in a school, a church or a work site性视界传媒� and they arrest another person who性视界传媒檚 been here for 15, 20 years, has kids here, is law abiding, that性视界传媒檚 done everything they性视界传媒檙e supposed to but just does not have legal status.性视界传媒�

Homan, the border czar, said to expect arrests, while recently reported the president性视界传媒檚 apparent dissatisfaction with the current pace of ICE arrests and deportations and is seeking ways to accelerate the agency性视界传媒檚 work.

What the data shows

Despite the local and federal emphasis on removing serious migrant criminals and those associated with Central and South American gangs, it is not clear if a significant number of either exist in Gregg County.

性视界传媒淭he Longview Police Department does not have any documented MS-13 members in Longview,性视界传媒� the department said in a statement, referring to Mara Salvatrucha, a Latin gang originating from Los Angeles frequently cited by Trump as a motivating factor for his deportation policy.

Cerliano said he is aware of some gangs between Gregg and Smith counties with members hailing from other countries but did not provide specific numbers. He added that about 20 undocumented people were in the Gregg County Jail as of Thursday for various state crimes. No further details were provided as to the seriousness of those crimes.

Sheriffs throughout Northeast Texas have broadly set the threshold for contacting immigration authorities at a DWI booking.

A focus on violent crimes committed by immigrants increased in 2024 amid high-profile cases, including that of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia woman murdered by an undocumented immigrant who had been released after a previous arrest. The Laken Riley Act, which Trump signed into law in January, gives federal immigration agencies broad authority to detain migrants accused of a variety of crimes.

More recently, a 33-year-old man from Guatemala, whom authorities say entered the country illegally, was indicted in December on murder and arson charges after police say he lit a woman on fire in a New York subway.

However, the prevailing assumption that undocumented people are more likely to commit crimes or that immigration is linked to rising crime rates is not borne out in academic research. In fact, the opposite appears to be true.

Both legal and undocumented immigrants were significantly less likely to engage in violent crime, property crime or possess illegal substances compared with U.S. citizens, according to a in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analyzing Texas Department of Public Safety data between 2012 and 2018.

Those without legal citizenship demonstrated the lowest likelihood to commit crimes across all categories examined, the study found.

In 2017, published in the Journal of Criminology examining the immigration-crime relationship between 1994 and 2014 concluded, 性视界传媒済reater immigration is associated with lower crime rates.性视界传媒�

性视界传媒淥ur review indicates significant negative (crime) effects are 2.5 times as common as significant positive effects,性视界传媒� researchers stated.

Critics, however, question such studies.

Jessica Vaughan at the Center for Immigration Studies in an October story that even if undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens, they aren性视界传媒檛 supposed to be here in the first place. Thus, all crimes committed by undocumented immigrants shouldn性视界传媒檛 have happened.

Families of victims 性视界传媒渄on性视界传媒檛 really care what the crime rate is among all illegal aliens,性视界传媒� Vaughan said in the article. 性视界传媒淲hat difference does it make?性视界传媒�

A protest gathers

About 100 people gathered Wednesday along Loop 281 in Longview. As the sun dipped, signs reading 性视界传媒渘o human is illegal性视界传媒� and 性视界传媒渋mmigrants make America great性视界传媒� waved at the rush of traffic.

A half-dozen Mexican flags danced amid the crowd.

The peaceful assembly brought together a host of residents dissatisfied with the Trump administration who demonstrated solidarity with various groups targeted by the president性视界传媒檚 executive orders, from the LGBT community to immigrants.

性视界传媒淭his is a scary time that we性视界传媒檙e going into, but I just knew if I could find people who felt the same way, we could figure something out,性视界传媒� said Adriana Reagh, one of the protest organizers.

None of the participants interviewed by the News-Journal saw Trump性视界传媒檚 campaign promises to deport millions of undocumented immigrants or Homan性视界传媒檚 suggestion of raiding schools as mere bluster.

Sanchez said some of his clients are already pulling children out of area schools and avoiding their work sites.

性视界传媒淭he fear is affecting all areas of their life,性视界传媒� he said.

Pine Tree ISD Superintendent Steve Clugston said immigration actions are very unlikely on Gregg County campuses compared with schools in urban areas. Moreover, he does not believe school raids make sense as a law enforcement tactic.

性视界传媒淚 think (ICE) will be very reluctant to go into schools, putting kids in harm性视界传媒檚 way性视界传媒� and for a lot of kids, whether they性视界传媒檙e undocumented or not, that isn性视界传媒檛 by their fault or choosing,性视界传媒� he said.