I hope you will consider printing this letter, even though I am not from your community. I am writing because my friends and I are scared—truly scared—and we don’t know where else to turn.
Many of us have lived here for 10 or 20 years. We go to work every single day, doing honest jobs to make a living and to pay our rent. We have never caused trouble or done anything wrong, unless you count having a beer on the weekend. Our employers value us, and they are nervous too—nervous that the people they rely on will simply be taken away.
That fear became real when some of my friends were picked up by ICE on their way to work. No warning, no explanation. Just taken.
We are not criminals. We contribute to this community. We work hard. We help keep businesses running. And now we live with the constant fear that we might be next.
Is there anyone who can help protect us? Anyone who can speak up for people like us who have been helping your community for so long?
And I have another question, one that is painful to raise. Is it legal for ICE to be selective about who they approach? Is “targeted police work” a real thing? Because from where I’m standing, I never see them stop anyone who isn’t a little dark-skinned. Maybe I’m wrong—but that’s how it feels. And that is why I am afraid every single day.
I hope someone will listen. I hope someone will help.
Signed,
J. Martinez (Name changed out of fear)
The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Lakewood Alerts. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review.
The problem is that interfering with ice in any capacity lands you in jail or with a record. It’s up to our officials to step up and use their influence to try to mitigate this problem.
The uncomfortable truth is that your employer, neighbors and supposed friends voted for you to live in fear. Trump was very clear about mass deportations and Lakewood voted overwhelmingly for Trump. Personally, I didn’t vote for that criminal and I’m sorry for what you are going through but there isn’t much a regular person can do about this situation. The most we can do is wait until he dies from the dementia or until the Democrats win the house back in 2026 and start holding the administration accountable. Stay safe and have a plan for your family.
There is nothing “criminal “ to expect that people that are coming to this country respect the laws and want to join this country success and not to take advantage of. The truth is Democrats lied to migrant coming to this country illegally and made unsupported promises on legality of their presence in this country and what to expect. They never bother to make a change and pass the laws for these migrants even when they have the majorities in Congress. They’ve made out of these migrants a bargain chip in their political ambitions.
So responsibility and shame on Democrats who even now refuse to admit the falsehoods of what they’ve done
As the original poster said, they have been here for 10 years+, and have contributed to society and the local economy. Immigrants are statistically less likely to commit crimes compared to Natural born Americans. Another point to consider is that a lot of illegal immigrants have spouses and children who are American citizens and have to carry the pain of not knowing where their parent or spouse is after they have been rounded up. A little rachmanus is not out of the question. The system is very broken, and it has been since the 80s and there have been multiple presidents who have dropped the ball. However, the current methods of just grabbing people off the street who have committed a civil offense and locking them up in camps for weeks without a way to contact their families or lawyers is not the American or moral thing to do. We are all immigrants from somewhere and it hasn’t always been easy for anyone. And before you say “let them do it the legal way”, ICE agents grabbed people in Boston the other day who had done it the legal way and were minutes away from receiving their citizenship after spending years and thousands of dollars “doing it the right way”. So obviously the administration doesn’t care about how people do it.
Refuah shelaima You need help.
Troll
I do feel sorry for you, but if you came here legally then there is nothing to fear.
J. Martinez, we are all horrified, that upstanding people like yourselves and their families are living in utter fear. We people all know too well about being rounded up. What is taking place on the streets of the US against upstanding people who have made the US their home is horrific and against the laws of humanity.
I feel very sorry for you and thank you for your contributions to our town. If you are legal then there is nothing to fear. If you are not and as you said not a criminal then what I believe you should do is self deport and then come back legally. Good luck!
I really feel the Democrats are the one to blame. When they opened the borders completely to try to win over the votes and shipping them all over the country. So now to fix the problem you have to go extreme reverse. If they would’ve just protected the borders life would’ve probably gone as usual. Few get in few get shipped back.. very sad.
I have many close friends and workers that I know for many years.
FYI. I know a few Israelis add well that over stayed there visa and were sent back
Just my view
I spoke with a person who lived here, he was picked up by ICE brought into a van three men checked his paperwork, he is in the seventh year of working on citizenship, He was released with a good luck on citizenship. I mentioned what I have heard about ICE arresting everyone, he only said “If your legal don’t resist, and stay out of resisting crowds”
People illegally in the country by definition are breaking the law. It is illegal for people illegally in the US to work. To present the identification need to prove eligibility illegally typically commit another crime of identify fraud.
Open borders has imported antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community. Australial massacre being a result of open borders policy. Who has not seen the the massive immigrant led violence in Europe and Canada. Violence that Trump has stopped for now in the US
So no compassion on someone who broke the law. Got it.
How about if someone drinks and kills someone when driving? Any compassion at all? How about if someone drives without a seatbelt, do they deserve compassion if they are hurt any time in the future?