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“Write down the name of the person you want to take care of your children” and “have passports and birth certificates ready for family members” are some of the instructions and recommendations made by certain pro-immigration groups so people can brace themselves in the event of deportations.
These “emergency kits” can help families or friends of those who are deported take care of children left behind or know what to do with their homes or vehicles. Also, if a person is arrested but hasn't been deported yet, the kit will help to have their personal information on hand and hire a lawyer to attend to their case as quickly as possible.
“We're planning for a worst case scenario,” said Gonzalo Mercado, executive director of La Colmena, a group that helps laborers in Staten Island, New York. “There is a a lot of uncertainty and it's important for immigrants to be prepared.”
President-elect Donald J. Trump has said on numerous occasions that undocumented immigrants with criminal records, which makes up between two and three million immigrants, will be the first to be deported. Furthermore, Trump has chosen several cabinet members with notoriously anti-immigration views who support deporting most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
Maryland-based CASA, plans on implementing a similar strategy and has informed immigrants of their rights if an immigration agent were to knock on their door. The pamphlets they've handed out say that “gather your most important documents such as birth and marriage certificates, and passports.”
“There's a lot of anxiety at the moment. I believe that our duty is to provide them with something that makes them feel like they have a little more power,” said Fernanda Durand, a spokseman for the group.
Jesus Morán, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who received a guide by La Colmena said that he, together with others, felt that it was “a little strange” to receive those papers since he's lived in the U.S. for decades, but “it's useful information, just in case.”
“We still need a lot of information,” concluded Morán, a 36 year-old laborer who has two U.S.-born children.
