OKC families see four ICE detainments from one neighborhood street
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Officials point to federal pressure to increase deportation numbers after four men were detained by ICE agents on one metro street in the last week or so.
The street is a neighborhood near Northwest 10th and Morgan Road.
"They've got family, kids, and are hard-working," said Luis Flores, who was close to one of the men who was detained. "There are now three families on this street because of the one across the way."
Flores pointed across the street at the home where Noe Chavez and his family lived.
News 4 reported Wednesday on Chavez's detainment, which happened last weekend. He and his 20-year-old son drove out of the neighborhood to get some food at a nearby store when ICE agents busted in their car window and took Chavez away.
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His family said that they asked for a warrant from the agents but didn't see one. He is said to be facing deportation to Guatemala. Chavez has been in Oklahoma for over two decades and has four kids.
"We had just gotten his fingerprinting done," said his wife, Vanessa Chavez. She said that they were on one of the final steps of getting his green card, and that he had tried for years to get a legal status.
Within the same week of Chavez's detainment came the detainment of three other men who lived just across the street from him in the same neighborhood.
The family of those men approached News 4 on Thursday and said the men had each been living in Oklahoma for over a decade, and came when they were kids. They said two of the men came from one home, and the other was from the home next door. They have kids that they leave behind as well.
"The agents have been driving around just waiting for them to leave," said Flores. "The agents have masks and wait until these men head to work, and then grab them."
Flores said one of the detainments of those men happened just outside of the neighborhood, also with agents busting in the window of the car and putting the man in handcuffs.
"Families don't feel safe here. They don't know what to do," said Flores. He added that many people who live in the neighborhood are scared to leave their homes.
"There are more people without a criminal record who are being picked up, arrested, and deported," said Senator Michael Brooks-Jimenez (D-OKC).
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Senator Brooks-Jimenez is also an immigration attorney, and he said it's pressure from the Trump Administration that is leading to an increase in deportations.
He said the Trump Administration's goal was to deport one million before the end of the year.
"So far, in the last five months, they've deported around 95,000," said Senator Brooks-Jimenez.
To increase numbers, it will take extra staff. Senator Brooks-Jimenez is worried that it could lead to more problems outside of the ones that already exist.
"The number of officers is said to increase by 10,000," said the senator. "How are you going to train these people? Because law enforcement is a position that requires training. But not just training, but experience."
Lionel Ramos from KOSU.org first reported on possible state-level efforts to deport, as Governor Stitt has doubled down on Operation Guardian and its intended promise.
In his reporting this week, they said Oklahoma's Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton said he has a goal to increase state and local law enforcement partnerships with ICE through what are called 287(g) agreements.
He reported, "Named after their section in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1991, the agreement allows for the deputization of local officers to execute immigration-related warrants and arrests, and to flag individuals for federal transfer once they are booked into local jails.
And since late February, that collaboration has spiked, according to a public records analysis by KOSU and The Markup, a California-based data newsroom. Of the 17 agreements active in Oklahoma, 14 have been formed since late February."
His report added that the state's agreement with ICE is still in its early stages but that it is more than likely to add to the already growing numbers of deportations.
"They would be arresting people under the Immigration and Nationality Act. That is the federal law where they deputized officers," said Ramos. "So, as these agencies ramp up, I should say, as more agencies enter into these contracts in Oklahoma, then people should start worrying about the state officers that they see driving around the street like Highway Patrol or whoever it is, potentially being able to enforce immigration at the federal level."
Flores said the men he has seen circling their neighborhood drive unmarked vehicles and have no identifying features outside of a mask and a vest, possibly with the words ICE on the back.
"That's scary," said Flores. "I could go find a mask and get a vest with my truck and act like I'm an agent too."
"They are not criminals. They are hard-working men who have families and who pay taxes," said Flores.
News 4 reached out to an ICE spokesperson on Wednesday about the warrant for Chavez. News 4 also reached out to an ICE spokesperson for a list of names and reasons for detainment for those who were living in Chavez's neighborhood. The spokesperson said they have our request and are working on getting us a response or answers.