Updated February 20, 2025 at 07:00 AM ET
PERRIS, Calif. – Several times a week, men, women and children – most without legal status – gather some 70 miles outside of Los Angeles to prepare for a worst-case-scenario: Getting picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for deportation.
In these Spanish-language "know your rights" trainings, advocates with the non-profit Training Occupational Development Educating Communities (TODEC) legal center teach families what to do – and say – if federal ICE agents come for them at work, on the streets, or in their homes.
A PowerPoint slide warns attendees against running away, recommending instead "to remain calm." They are encouraged to photograph or take video of any encounters with agents, particularly if they suspect their due process rights are being violated, like a coerced signature on any document, which could be an order of voluntary departure.
In unison, they practice saying, "You may not enter, please leave," a first line of defense if ICE officers attempt to enter a home without a court-ordered warrant. A few struggle to say the lines with the little English they know.
Legal volunteers review the documents parents should gather if in the event they have to leave their children behind, including birth certificates and caregiver affidavits. At the end of each session, advocates hand out little red cards with an overview of basic rights and key phrases for those without legal status to carry at all times.
"There is definitely fear and uncertainty across our community," says Luz Gallegos, executive director of the TODEC legal center, who says the number of people who have contacted the center since Trump was elected has more than doubled. "We have families that haven't left their homes since the election."
President Trump is moving fast to make good on his promise to deport migrants living in the country without legal status. As soon as he was sworn into office, he signed a series of executive orders aimed at ramping up deportations. ICE agents are now empowered to go into schools, hospitals and churches in their search of those without legal status. White House officials say their crackdown targets individuals who are in the country illegally with criminal records, but many who have committed no crimes are afraid they may get swept up in the deportations l because some already have.
The administration has signaled that it views anyone in the country without legal status as having committed a crime.
In a recent press briefing, when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked by a reporter how many of those detained so far had a criminal record. "All of them," she responded. "Because they illegally broke our nation's laws and, therefore, they are criminals."
Old fears, new messaging
By the administration's standards, members in 54-year-old Maria's family are fair game for deportation, which is what drew her to TODEC's training session along with her daughter and grandson.
But these worries aren't really new for Maria, who gives only her first name to protect her family.
"We've always been scared, even before Trump," she says after the session ends.
ICE agents detained and deported people in the country illegally under former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, who was dubbed the "deporter-in-chief" by activists for deporting far more people than any other president, including Trump during his first term.What is new is the messaging and the publicity around the deportations.
"This reality now is very different because it comes with a lot of messaging that comes with a lot of hate and discrimination within the messaging," says Gallegos. "It's a different narrative that our community wasn't used to before Trump came along."
In his inaugural address, Trump spoke of illegal immigration as an "invasion." During his campaign, he falsely accused Haitian immigrants of eating pets. He has suggested that migrants spread disease and "infect our country."
Since Trump returned to office, ICE has been regularly posting on X about the number of migrants agents arrest on any given day. The agency has also been posting photos of arrested migrants listing their crimes and nationalities alongside a caption that reads "The Worst First," suggesting immigration enforcement may soon broaden.
Gallegos worries the messaging could incite people with hostile views toward migrants. She has tightened security and surveillance around the center in recent months.
Out of fear, TODEC isn't publicizing all of its trainings. Volunteers are increasingly going out into the community to meet with workers on farms or parents in schools. The legal center is also holding more sessions virtually. They are in particularly high-demand in California, which is home to nearly a quarter of the nation's undocumented population, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
While it's unclear how much of a surge Trump's detentions and deportations will be compared to the past, it's still an uncertain time for migrants. Gallegos hopes the economic uncertainty of the moment might keep the administration from going after anyone without legal status. She's been emphasizing more than ever just how critical migrants are to the economy.
"We're already hearing it from companies — they don't have workers," she says. Nobody's going to work these hard, difficult jobs that pay very low wages and don't offer any benefits. For us it's about human beings and human rights, but for others, it's not about the people, it's about their bottom line, the economy."
Some places are already feeling the void. Those without status have started retreating from the community.
Gallegos knows of many kids who are too afraid to leave their parents for school, parents too scared to go to work, and families waiting anxiously to see just how extensive Trump's deportations will be.
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