I recently joined a newly formed non-profit Board that will provide wraparound services for new immigrants while prioritizing training programs leading to meaningful employment. In this new Board, I have had the privilege of working with a fellow Board member who is an immigration attorney in the Bay Area. Sadly, she has confirmed that the ICE Raids have begun. Since last Sunday, a few arrests in Contra Costa County involved individuals getting into their cars to go to work in the morning.

According to a press release on July 10, 2019, ” Those affected were in the counties of Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and Sonoma, with reports indicating that at least one case involved an unlawful arrest motivated by racial profiling, while another individual was reportedly coerced by ICE into effectively signing a deportation order…(including) repeated instances in which attorneys responding on behalf of detained individuals were denied access to their clients.”

Most of us unfortunately have endured limited civil and human rights in many of our native countries of origin. I know, personally, my family looked forward to escaping martial law knowing that the respect for due process seemed almost uniquely American compared to what we have known.

Racial profiling can mean that you are here legally but because you resemble other targeted ethnicities, you may be faced with the consequences of mistaken identity and detention without access to legal counsel.