Immigration crackdown

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Immigration attorney Aomer Mohamed has spent the past few months reassuring his current and prospective clients. Recent events, following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, however, have only heightened their anxieties.

“It doesn’t matter what’s their immigration status,” Mohamed says. “There is less concern among (naturalized) U.S. citizens, but there are a few who are still concerned. Green card holders (and) individuals here on nonimmigrant visas are concerned, and really they feel like they are in danger, even though hopefully they’re not.”

This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were seen at apartment complexes in Henrietta and Fairport. Their presence follows a national directive by Trump—a declaration and executive orders on immigration calling for sweeping changes to the country’s immigration enforcement and asylum and refugee intake processes. The actions are intended to limit immigration and increase deportations.

Even before the executive orders, Monroe County Executive Adam Bello, along with 248 other elected officials across the nation, received a letter from America First Legal, a nonprofit founded by Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy. The letter, which alleges that sanctuary jurisdictions violate federal law, aimed to “put elected officials in sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States on notice.”

Bello, who is listed on the nonprofit’s website among other sanctuary stronghold contacts, was told that his jurisdiction was violating federal law. (Monroe County does not have sanctuary status, but the city of Rochester does.) The letter closes with: “No matter your views on our Union, the fact of the matter is that you and the other officials who support or enforce sanctuary laws, policies, and regulations have a very personal stake in the matter—you each could face criminal prosecution and civil liability for your illegal acts.” (Monroe County did not respond to the Rochester Beacon’s requests for comment.)

“A sanctuary city means that the state enforcement agencies do not cooperate with the federal government. That’s what it means. It doesn’t mean that they are untouchable,” says Anthony Guidice, an immigration attorney. “If ICE comes in here or (Customs and Border Protection) comes in here because we’re close to the border, they can. They can do whatever the hell they want. They can round people up en masse like the Jews were rounded up in Germany.”

“Trump loves to say, this is illegal, that’s illegal,” Guidice adds. “He really doesn’t know whether this is a purview of the state policing agency and (to what degree) the federal authority overrides. That is a legal question that has to be put before a judge, and it’s a very complex question. It’s not something you can give a soundbite answer to, which is what Trump is doing.”

Sanctuary city

Staring down a potential crackdown on sanctuary cities under the first Trump administration, Rochester reaffirmed its sanctuary status in 2017. But what exactly does that mean?

In the United States, immigration law is controlled federally, and federal law reigns supreme over state and local laws. It is illegal for state and local laws to run contrary to federal law, but local laws can govern to what extent a city will assist with legal enforcement under the responsibility of the federal government, including immigration.

Thus, the term “sanctuary city” is a broad one describing cities that have enacted local laws that limit their public employees from engaging with immigration enforcement done by federal officers. There is no one set of laws that makes a city a sanctuary—it’s more like a gradient of laws, with some cities being more protective than others.

In Rochester’s case, sanctuary status means that the Rochester Police Department is legally prohibited from probing into somebody’s immigration status solely for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws. The RPD may do this only when that information is needed to investigate criminal activity.

RPD maintains two related policies—a training bulletin and a general order.

The general order allows for officers to respond to CBP and ICE in situations of imminent danger, such as a call for backup assistance. They may turn over a person named in a “judicial warrant or federal criminal arrest warrant” to CBP or ICE and may assist them in making a “lawful warrantless arrest for a federal crime.”

Rochester’s sanctuary law also mandates that, except when services or benefits are contingent on citizenship, city personnel cannot legally request proof of immigration status or citizenship. The city is also legally prohibited from using its funds or personnel to enforce or assist in the enforcement of federal immigration policies, and it can’t participate in programs requiring registration of individuals on the basis of national origin.

Rochester’s laws don’t (and can’t) in any way govern how federal immigration officers operate in its borders. The same is true for nearby sanctuary jurisdictions with similar policies, like Wayne and Yates counties. This means, amid a concerted federal effort to ramp up enforcement, the law is limited in the protections it offers residents. (Wayne and Yates county officials did not respond to a request for comment.)

“(Sanctuary city) doesn’t mean like you’re protected, but I think the biggest part of it means this city will not cooperate with immigration enforcement. The city will not report you to ICE if you are undocumented,” Mohamed says. “It does not mean that if you are in that city, you are protected.”

ICE detainees in the Western New York region are held at the Buffalo Service Processing Center in Batavia. Since 2018, the number of detainees has fluctuated from 612 to a low of 251. The most recent records available indicate there are 545 currently detained at the facility, with the majority possessing no ICE threat level.

In a recent statement, Mayor Malik Evans said he was made aware of the recent presence of federal immigration officials in the region, and noted that they don’t “alert, coordinate with, or involve local governments or law enforcement in their activities.”

ICE officers were seen at an apartment complex in Henrietta.

“I recognize there is a degree of fear and concern being caused by the current rhetoric around immigration enforcement, and encourage refugees and immigrants living in the Greater Rochester area to be fully aware of their rights,” he said, directing people to the city’s website documenting resources for local immigrants and refugees.

The city’s law itself comes with an important, legally unavoidable caveat: Because it can’t circumvent laws made by higher governments, the city maintains its sanctuary practices only to the extent that they are allowed under state and, more importantly, federal law. 

Rochester’s sanctuary city law is possible because there is no federal law compelling local officials to assist in immigration enforcement. If that were to change, as Trump is attempting to do, the city’s law would also change by default, and Rochester could be compelled by a court to comply with new federal laws or policies.

Legal whirlwind 

Though Trump has been in office for just 10 days, the federal policy landscape on immigration has already shifted profoundly, pending numerous court challenges. Part of that agenda has put sanctuary cities like Rochester in the crosshairs.

Through executive orders, Trump is attempting to use the military, federal funding, and administrative agency practices to largely shut U.S. doors to immigrants and asylum seekers, particularly those coming across the southern border, and to deport undocumented immigrants found in the country.

Declaring an “invasion” of undocumented immigrants, Trump has, among many other things, indefinitely halted refugee admissions and applications, directed federal agencies to screen potential immigrants “to the maximum degree possible,” and ordered the construction of barriers at the southern border and for the military to deploy there.

Domestically, Trump has ordered the aggressive pursuit of criminal prosecutions and deportations against undocumented immigrants and immigrants who violate laws in the United States, including ending a Biden-era moratorium on pursuing the death penalty against undocumented immigrants accused of capital crimes.

Trump also issued an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship, which is an explicit protection of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment that guarantees citizenship to U.S.-born children regardless of their parent’s status.

He is also applying pressure on sanctuary cities directly. Trump ordered the U.S. attorney general and Department of Homeland Security secretary to condition federal funding eligibility on cooperation with immigration enforcement. Federal contracts and nonprofit grants to organizations that serve immigrants are also now to be reviewed.

Rochester, like other cities, relies in large part on federal money to fund local initiatives, and a constellation of local nongovernmental organizations serves the city’s immigrant and refugee communities.

With few exceptions, Trump’s actions on immigration have sparked legal challenges from nonprofits and states. New York, for instance, joined 21 other states last week in suing over his executive order on birthright citizenship, which the states argue is a plain violation of the Constitution.

Mohamed believes the flurry of activity around immigration contains some hype, even if the administration is being more efficient and effective than in Trump’s first term. The source of that hype, he says, is the administration itself.

“They are pretty much using this as an opportunity to scare a lot of people,” he says. “There’s a lot of talk, a lot of threats. Yes, unfortunately, some of it will go through, but I believe most of it is just using it as a strategy to scare people who are either planning on, you know, making their way to the U.S., or individuals who are in the U.S. already. So, it’s a strategy.”

“Ultimately, I don’t believe everything that’s being said is going to go through,” he says.

Who’s affected here? 

In a statement released on Monday, Catholic Charities Family and Community Services, Rochester’s Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance program provider, strongly rebuked the decision made by the Trump administration the week prior to freeze federal funding for resettlement services. 

Under U.S. law, resettlement agencies use those funds to help refugees in their first 90 days in the country. In Rochester’s case, this will affect 250 refugees who have arrived in the city since Nov. 1, 2024, CCFCS says.

“The suspension of funds, announced without warning late Friday, January 24, is a devastating blow to newly arrived refugees in Rochester and the network of neighbors and community groups that welcome them,” the statement reads. “The funding freeze means these families no longer have support for immediate needs such as shelter, food and transportation; it also jeopardizes Catholic Charities’ ability to connect them to housing, health, education, employment and other key services designed to place them on a path to self-sufficiency.”

Trump’s indefinite suspension of all refugee admissions to the U.S. is also impacting several hundred more families who were approved and planned to move to Rochester over the next few months.

“Refugee resettlement is and always has been mission critical to us,” Lori VanAuken, president and CEO of CCFCS, said in the statement. “Our refugee brothers and sisters have fled war, violence and persecution for safe haven in the U.S. We call on the federal government to restore funding for resettlement services and honor its promise to our refugee families.”

“CCFCS will not abandon the refugee families who rely on us to help them navigate life in America,” the statement also reads. “CCFCS will continue to advocate for refugees who come to us seeking peace and freedom.”

Trump’s executive order also curtails refugees with Special Immigrant Visa status, those who were employed on behalf of the U.S. government. Rochester organization Keeping Our Promise aids Afghan, Iraqi and Kurdish SIVs, finding them apartments and connecting them to employers.

Ellen Smith, executive director of Keeping Our Promise, in a newsletter said the effect on SIVs by the order may be an unintended consequence, but called the impact “devastating.”

“This pause threatens to effectively end the SIV program—a critical pathway to safety for Afghan allies who served alongside U.S. forces and whose lives are at risk under Taliban rule,” Smith said. “The United States made a promise to its Afghan allies—a promise we cannot abandon. We are confident that this pause is a mistake, and we are doing everything possible to make sure it is corrected.”

Due to the order, Keeping Our Promise predicts that: relocation flights will be paused, leaving thousands of Afghans stranded; travel loans from Refugee Support Centers, which families rely on to reach safety, will be suspended; pausing resettlement services could potentially put refugees at risk of homelessness; and that, without funding, resettlement agencies may have to begin layoffs, further exacerbating the issues.

The organization is currently identifying Afghans with U.S. visas who are not in Qatar and raising money for their flights to Rochester. They also urge the administration to issue immediate exemptions to Afghan programs during the reevaluation period.

“To the Afghan allies and families who trusted us with their lives: We see you, we hear you, and we will not stop fighting for you,” Smith’s statement reads. “These advocates, veterans, and other allies will keep lifting up your stories and pushing for clarity and resolution. You are not alone in this fight.”

State Assemblymember Jennifer Lunsford also released a statement criticizing the efforts to curb the SIV program. She called the act a “disgusting, hypocritical and dangerous” assault and drew inspiration from her own family history.

“As the great-grandchild of refugees who fled Russian pogroms, I will not stand for the dehumanization or degradation of any human,” Lunsford said. “These heroes did the work of the U.S. military and put themselves and their families at risk as a result. Our community is home to many such families who have sought a safer, better life here in our region.”

For decades, Rochester has welcomed foreign nationals as refugees, educators and workers. The modern era of refugee acceptance began in the 1970s, primarily for Vietnamese asylum seekers fleeing the war in their country. The effort was helmed by faith-based organizations, which created systems later adopted into U.S. government procedures. 

More recently, refugees have come from countries affected by ongoing conflicts including Syria, Somalia, Ukraine and Afghanistan, and Nepalese refugees coming from Bhutan.

According to a study by the University of Vermont, refugees made up 18 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population in the years between 2012 and 2016. This is below Syracuse and Buffalo rates in that category (which are around 30 percent) but puts it on par with Utica, which has seen tremendous regrowth in its area thanks to refugees repopulating the region. 

Over the past 14 years, the number of resettled refugees has varied based on ceilings set by the federal government. While the national limits used to be as high as 200,000 in the 1980s, they dropped to record lows of 18,000 during Trump’s first term. Under Joe Biden, the ceiling was increased to 125,000, where it has remained.

In 2024, 100,034 refugees were admitted into the country, a remarkable bounceback and the highest level since 1994. Under the Biden administration, there was a large-scale investment into the hundreds of resettlement offices nationwide and a streamlining of services, including creating facilities closer to refugees’ origin countries and the enabling of private groups to sponsor refugees.

Available CCFCS data shows that, from 2009 to 2015, local refugee resettlement hovered around 700 people. It then spiked to a high of 1,176 in 2016 before dropping to around 300 from 2017 to 2021.

More recent years have seen a slight increase in those numbers. However, they average around 500 people, still lower than pre-2016 levels.

Faith-based organizations continue to be among the main drivers in aiding refugees. In Rochester, CCFCS is the sole Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance program provider, in addition to being the largest refugee resettlement agency in New York State.

“Rochester is a shining star because of the way it embraces refugees,” Guidice says. “It’s a pall, a black mark, upon this community that we have a president that’ll just put aside the prospects of human suffering and just invalidate everything that this community has done.”

Uncertain times

Hawkish immigration policies can have an impact on American life, experts say, starting with the basics—food. Many hired farmworkers are undocumented immigrants. Last July, the Baker Institute for Public Policy noted that migrants are central to the nation’s food security. 

“Without a reliable workforce in agriculture, we can expect to see major domestic and global political consequences, including increased food imports and food price hikes,” a research paper titled “Feeding America: How Immigrants Sustain U.S. Agriculture” states.

 A 2014 analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation noted that “the farm sector’s heavy dependence on undocumented workers in its hired farm workforce makes agriculture particularly sensitive to the changes possible with immigration reform depending on the nature and extent of the reform.”

While numbers of foreign farm workers are anecdotal and hard to come by, indicators show an increase in the last decade. According to the Department of Agriculture, during the 2020-22 period, 32 percent of crop farmworkers were U.S.-born, 7 percent were immigrants who had obtained U.S. citizenship, 19 percent were other authorized immigrants (primarily permanent residents or green-card holders), and the remaining 42 percent held no work authorization. Data on livestock farmworkers are challenging to find.

In New York, agriculture remains a stronghold. The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis found that farms in New York State contributed $2.7 billion to the state’s gross domestic product, up from $2.4 billion in 2017, a November 2024 report from the New York State Comptroller’s office states. The Finger Lakes region has 5,578 farms, higher than any other region in the state.

“The amount of foreign blue collar employment that keeps our economy vigorous is staggering,” Guidice notes. 

Trump’s moves on immigration signal the power of federal authority, Guidice observes. Education, public safety and other areas are typically tougher realms to have an impact in, given state authority over them. Immigration, on the other hand, lands squarely with the federal government.

“Immigration is one instance where the presidential candidate can say, ‘I’m going to do this’  and he can do it because … the Constitution grants them that power,” Guidice says. “The feds have no power other than those enumerated in the Constitution, and that’s one, so that’s why he’s doing this. I honestly don’t believe that Donald Trump has anything against (immigrants). In fact, I know for a fact that he’s hired many, many undocumented immigrants. I don’t think he even has any chestnuts in this fire, personally. It’s just a politically advantageous position to take.”

Mohamed strikes an optimistic note, stressing individual rights.

“I tell all (my clients) you’re in the United States, there are certain rights that you have, even if you’re not a citizen,” he says. “It doesn’t matter what your immigration status is. You can’t … simply be grabbed from your house or the street and kicked out without you having your day in court. As long as you have a case to present in court, there’s a process that you have to go through there. You have (the right) to present your case; you have (the right) to appeal if your case is initially denied. That’s what I tell most of the individuals who are undocumented.”

Last November Guidice, in an article on his website, wrote: “The outlook for foreign nationals isn’t good. It’s possible that many will suffer, and many good people will endure considerable heartache.”

He still feels this way. In fact, given the uncertainty, Guidice now asks his clients, if they’re spiritual, to pray.

“I also tell them this: Even if they have a recourse, for example, an unlawful presence waiver and then counselor processing or adjustment of status through a spouse, that does not mean that the administrative agencies will follow their own regulations or the Immigration and Nationality Act, the statute,” Guidice says. “They can openly contravene it and argue that what you’re doing doesn’t apply, or your objections don’t apply. They can do that.”

Justin O’Connor and Jacob Schermerhorn are Rochester Beacon contributing writers. Smriti Jacob is managing editor.

The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real nameSee “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing  [email protected]


10 thoughts on “Immigration crackdown

  1. We wouldn’t be in this mess without the incompetence of Biden and Mayorkas policies over the past 4 years. What contributed to this fiasco was the lack of coverage by the media. As a whole the media covered up Biden’s disastrous immigration policy throughout most of his term.

  2. Jacob Schermerhorn – I don’t believe I’ve ever read a piece you’ve authored, where you didn’t take the most liberal side available. In most cases, I read your articles mostly for the fact that they are incisive, illuminating, and well-written. What they are not, however, is fair or balanced. And while you sometimes sparsely include a bit of a more conservative take – it is usually followed up with a deluge of liberal talking points and narratives of others who fall into the same category – either professionally or academically.

    Why, I wonder, do you never seem to illustrate a more centrist position on any matter of importance, no matter what the topic is you’re writing about.

    Not calling you out so much as why this publication rarely, if ever, takes on anything approaching a more conservative overview? It may interest you to know that not everyone in the Greater Rochester Area is liberally-inspired or wired in that frequency.

    If anything, a more centrist approach to a variety of the topics you discuss might just open up this paper to an even wider audience that it currently has. Don’t get me wrong here – this is a paper, overall, that does a good job of trying to explain any number of what constitutes ‘news’ or related topics in our area.

    What I’m railing against here is the constant, ever present stream of articles that seem to perpetuate, embolden and affirm the wants and desires of more liberally minded Rochesterians. Nothing wrong with that – but – believe it or not – those of us that tend to lean a bit more conservatively in both our politics and opinions – care just as much as liberals do about our “state of the state” – our “urbanism” – our crime statistics – our abhorrent schools and school system – our educational values – and the direction and evolvement of our community as a whole.

    You’re not alone in your desires to see massive improvement at all levels of city government, individual rights, or on any other issue of import to your fellow Rochesterians. Just don’t leave the rest of us who don’t necessarily fall into the liberal matrix, out of the meanderings of the columnists and those who read them. Appreciate your time..

    • Agreed. This seems a bit one-sided. Comparing illegal aliens to the Jews of Nazi Germany is a bit over-the-top. If nothing else, it diminishes the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust. Trump is a bully with no diplomatic or empathetic qualities, however, we need to admit first, the problem was largely created by the Biden Administration’s failure to address the border crisis. Second to recognize correcting for those failures requires actions that will seem harsh, and third that the answer is a closer look at the causes and solutions as to how we address illegal immigration. There is a substantive difference between a refugee and an illegal alien, or an immigrant and a migrant worker. These distinctions are often ignored by both sides. The solution will involve recognizing these differences, and one-sided arguments are not necessarily helpful.

  3. You know who has “heightened anxieties,” gentlemen? Those American workers that can’t get an entry level job in any number of industries, due to the fact that those jobs have already been taken by illegal immigrants at a far lower pay scale.

    You know who else has the same level of anxiety as well? The hospitals that have to treat much of the illegal population for various maladies knowing full well that if they are reimbursed at all, they are still looking at pennies on the dollar. Hospitals that are already floundering financially under the current medical system and have had to severely cut costs in order to operate somewhat effectively from a financial stand point. Most of these “undocumented” immigrants can’t pay for the care they’ve received, thus putting the burden of care on both the hospital itself and the taxpaying public.

    Then you have the extra costs of these arrivals’ children in our public schools. Schools that don’t have the funding necessary to compensate for all of the new Spanish speaking kids in terms of room, and who are now being forced into remedial English classes while they continue to fall behind most of their fellow school mates in their other classes. To add further calamity, many of these ‘newcomers’ are not vaccinated for a variety of diseases long held to not be a threat to most American schoolkids. Things like mumps, measles, diphtheria and a host of others.

    Lastly, to the person that expressed this thought: “With the birth rate falling below the death rate, our future society signficantly needs immigration to stay viable and prosperous. How is this fact lost in the debate over immigration?”

    Let me just say that I agree with your sentiment, but only if said ‘immigration’ is LEGAL. Illegal immigrants by the tens of millions does not help this nation to thrive -or to stay viable and prosperous. On California fruit farms, perhaps, but not in the overall scheme of things.

    These migrants also bring certain levels of crime or criminal activity in area’s where none is desired or wanted.

  4. Excellent article! The work by Beacon journalists, editors, and managers is applauded.

    The light the Beacon shines in the darkness allowing us all to see and understand what is happening to us more clearly.

    Immigrants enrich our American society in a myriad of ways. With the birth rate falling below the death rate, our future society signficantly needs immigration to stay viable and prosperous. How is this fact lost in the debate over immigration?

    Perhaps a future article for the Beacon would be on the value of immigration and what immigrants contribute to the quality of life in our communities, state, and nation.

    • Part of the challenge is that one side seems to believe those in the center or right are “anti-immigration” as opposed to favoring legal immigration. One can hold true that immigration is advantageous whilst illegal immigration has negative consequences. Some paint those that oppose open borders, or at least sieve borders, are necessarily opposed to immigration. It’s simply not accurate.

  5. Thank you for a very informative and well-researched article. This is very useful.

    I just have to point out Trump’s power over some people: “Ultimately, I don’t believe everything that’s being said is going to go through,” he says.

    That is Trump’s superpower: everyone discounts what he actually says and believes what they want to believe. It’s a real problem. I personally think we should stop with the willful blindness if we want to help our community.

    • Excellent point about the minimization of the harm of these policies in maybe a misguided attempt to reassure and not panic people. However, we are passed that now and as these harmful policies are implemented they need to be clearly addressed, mitigated, and opposed.

      I am not sure that calling this minimization “willful blindness” really captures the pernicious effect that this characterization enables. There is a failure to be clear in naming what is happening in our communities, state, and country. The result is mystifying and what some are called “gaslighting.” The question a person might ask is “Who is crazy here? Me or them?”

      As is pointed out in this post, gaslighting people people who are scared is not helpful and certainly doesn’t help people feel more secure in our community.

      It’s time to call a spade a spade, take the bull by the horns, and stop what is happening. Minimizing the harm allows the insidious harmful behavior to continue.

      Thank you for pointing this out. It is time for people in our community to keep the faith, be courageous, stay strong, seek justice, and do the right thing.

      • Harm and justice, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder. If the harm is the influx of illegal aliens then justice is their removal.

  6. This is a good illustration as to why language is important. The city council resolution states Rochester is a Sanctuary City yet it does not in fact offer sanctuary.

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