Island Ways | Trump’s hard line on immigration sparks fear on Nantucket

“There is a lot of fear, there is noticeably less traffic on island roads,” said Juan Carlos Acosta, who immigrated to the United States in 1996 from the Dominican Republic. “Even people who have documents are worried because they have family or friends who aren’t documented.”

“The rumors and misinformation put everybody into chaos and everybody into panic,” she said. “We need to have clear messaging from people in power (on the island), to let everyone know what’s really happening so everyone can have peace of mind and their mental health.”

Partida said the messaging that came from the school system Monday was a good example of what she is talking about and she hopes to see more island leaders coming out with similar messages.

“I feel like we trust our police officers here and our community and organizations, but this is new for everyone,” she said. “The (Trump) administration is doing things really rapidly and no one knows how things are going to affect them.”

Schools superintendent Beth Hallett said she wants families to know that schools are a safe place for all children. School officials sent a letter to families Monday assuring them that the schools are a safe place for children, regardless of documentation status.

“Anxiety has been building (at the schools) since the Trump administration came into power and all of the edicts saying they would be clamping down on immigration,” Hallett said. “There has been growing concern among our students and their parents. So, the most important reason why I sent the letter is because I wanted parents to know the school is a safe place, and that immigrant students, no matter what their immigration status, have every right to a free public education.”

In the letter sent home to families, Hallett said the school would only allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents into the school if they possess an appropriate criminal warrant.

“If an ICE agent seeks access to a student at school, school staff have been directed not to permit the agent to enter the building, but instead to send the agent to the Central Office,” it read.

Hallett said there is a concern that families concerned about their child’s immigration status could stop sending them to school.

“It’s only been a couple of weeks and we haven’t noticed drastic situations, but I think that there is a great sense of fear, so I expect to see some changes in attendance over the next several weeks, especially now that people are watching the news more, finding out what’s happening in other communities. I want to make it very clear to parents that your children are probably in one of the safest places they can be in school. We are here to protect them.”

On Jan. 20, his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders related to immigration after making immigration reform a hallmark of his campaign.

Even though the president has said undocumented immigrants with criminal records will be the targets of deportation, Acosta said undocumented immigrants with no criminal records are still concerned that being in the wrong place at the wrong time will cause them to get swept up in a raid.

While Hallett said educators haven’t seen widespread attendance issues yet, a different situation appeared to be playing out in the island’s workforce. One business owner in the trades who asked not to be identified said they were aware of a number of employees who stayed home on Tuesday because of a rumor that ICE officials were on island.

“A lot of times, if people think that ICE or immigration is on the island, they will just stay home and wait it out,” the employer said. “The thinking is, (ICE) will have to return to the mainland, they can’t stay here forever. So, it’s best to just lay low, stay home, don’t drive.”

As an anecdotal example of how much the island relies on immigrant workers, the employers said they can remember a weekday morning in the summer when Old South Road had an unusually low amount of traffic.

“It’s usually bumper to bumper summer mornings, and there were like no cars on the road. I found out later that it was the same day ICE was in town making arrests,” they said.

That was in September, when ICE conducted a week-long campaign on the island arresting five undocumented immigrants, all of whom had been charged with child sex crimes.

While at times the Trump administration has said it would only target violent offenders, the messaging from the White House has been mixed, leaving those without a criminal record unsure of what their fate could be.

“People feel like there is no path to legal citizenship,” Acosta said.

A number of large school districts across the country, including Massachusetts, have issued statements similar to Nantucket Public Schools, including the Boston Public Schools and Worcester Public Schools.

But not all school districts are on board. In Oklahoma, education leaders approved a rule Tuesday that would request families provide proof of citizenship or immigration status when they enroll students in public schools.

It would not prevent undocumented students from enrolling but would provide the federal government with “information to aid immigration enforcement,” according to The New York Times.

Massachusetts attorney general Andrea Joy Campbell sent out a letter Friday reminding public school administrators of “their obligation to protect students and their information,” and that the federal Family Education and Privacy Rights Act of 1974 prohibits schools from sharing information about a student with third parties, including ICE, without the written consent of a parent or guardian.

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