PITTSBURGH — An organization that has helped immigrants come to Pittsburgh for more than a decade is weighing in.
Chief Investigator Rick Earle sat down with the executive director of Casa San Jose, Monica Ruiz.
Ruiz says ICE has always been around, but recently she’s seen a big increase in activity. So much so that she temporarily shut down her facility because she doesn’t want any of her clients and staff out in the open.
Earle: Did you ever expect to see anything like this?
Ruiz: No, I never in my life thought that I would see something like this, ever, ever. I was born in this country. I don’t understand.
For 15 years, the nonprofit has helped immigrants from Mexico and Central and South America.
Currently, she’s the only one in the office. The entire center, normally bustling with activity, is empty.
She told her staff and clients to stay home because of the recent uptick in ICE activity.
Ruiz: People are terrified. People are afraid to go to the grocery store, to leave their home, to go to work, to send their children to school. Like this is not anything I’ve ever seen.
Ruiz says her staff is now helping clients while working remotely.
While the Trump administration has said ICE and border patrol agents are going after violent undocumented immigrants, Ruiz claims that’s just not the case here, citing the apprehension of two men, one in Springdale and another in Oakmont, with no criminal records.
The man from Oakmont was ultimately released by ICE.
Ruiz: In many cases, it’s the best of the best. It’s the people that are building our homes. It’s the people that are putting literal roofs over our heads. The ones that are picking the fruits and vegetables that are on our plates every day. They’re the people that clean our houses, that clean our hotels, that take care of our children. Those are the people that are being picked up every single day.
Ruiz says, in many cases, their immigration status doesn’t matter.
Ruiz: It doesn’t matter if they’re a citizen, a naturalized citizen, a green card holder, whatever visa they might have. Someone who’s currently in the process, whether they’ve been here five minutes, five years or 15 or 20, 30 years. It doesn’t matter anymore. They’re picking anyone up.
While Ruiz is encouraged that ICE finally ended its surge in Minneapolis after shooting and killing two people, federal agents say interferred with their operations, Homeland Security says they plan to take Border Czar Tom Homan’s more targeted enforcement approach nationwide.
Earle: Do you think it’s going to get worse here?
Ruiz: 100 percent.
Earle: Do you think this is gonna be like Minneapolis?
Ruiz: I pray that it isn’t, but the fact that they’re still hiring over 30,000 more ICE agents would lead me to believe I’d be very naive if I didn’t think that they would be more active here.
Ruiz is so worried about all of this that she didn’t want us to show the location of her nonprofit and she says when she does reopen, her employees will be wearing body cameras to document any interactions.
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