{"id":94549,"date":"2019-04-16T21:11:04","date_gmt":"2019-04-17T03:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/protesters-gather-outside-ices-durango-headquarters\/"},"modified":"2019-04-16T21:11:04","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T03:11:04","slug":"protesters-gather-outside-ices-durango-headquarters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/protesters-gather-outside-ices-durango-headquarters\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters gather outside ICE\u2019s Durango headquarters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Barry
Barry Devine holds a sign Tuesday morning during a sunrise vigil in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Bodo Industrial Park.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

About 40 protesters demanding an end to the targeting of immigrants in La Plata County stood outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s headquarters in Durango on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to show ICE there\u2019s a lot of people in this town that don\u2019t believe in their presence and their scare tactics,\u201d said Enrique Orozco, a Durango activist who has been working with the local immigrant community.<\/p>\n

Across the country, protests have surfaced over ICE\u2019s practices since the Trump administration\u2019s call for a crackdown on illegal immigration.<\/p>\n

\"Lexis
Lexis Loeb, left, Trish Hamilton, center, and Emily Ciszek participate in a sunrise vigil Tuesday morning in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Bodo Industrial Park.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In Durango, protesters have gathered outside the La Plata County Courthouse<\/a> in an effort to deter ICE agents who patrol the courthouse when they suspect someone living in the country illegally is going to appear.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday morning, however, protesters gathered at 7 a.m. outside ICE\u2019s local headquarters at 23 Sheppard Drive in Bodo Industrial Park. After an hour, only one worker pulled into the building and did not interact with the group outside.<\/p>\n

\"Enrique
Enrique Orozco, center, along with about 40 people, showed up for a Tuesday morning sunrise vigil in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Bodo Industrial Park.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Orozco said undocumented immigrants are largely overlooked, despite being an essential part of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cDurango is a town that thrives off the service industry,\u201d he said. \u201cCooks. Cleaners. People working long hours for cheap labor. They keep the town going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protesters woke up at dawn to stand outside ICE\u2019s headquarters to send a message that the department\u2019s \u201csecret\u201d ways of policing immigrants are no longer tolerated, Orozco said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be vigilant of their presence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"About
About 40 people showed up Tuesday morning for a sunrise vigil in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Bodo Industrial Park.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Wendolyne Oma\u00f1a, a Durango resident who also works with the immigrant community, said ICE has engaged in \u201cnon-stop intimidation\u201d of some people for the past eight months.<\/p>\n

She has heard stories of ICE agents parking at the entrance of neighborhoods and waiting for people they suspect of living in the country illegally, or stalking them at their place of work.<\/p>\n

\"Margaret
Margaret Cozine holds a sign that her 8-year-old granddaughter made for a Tuesday morning sunrise vigil in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Bodo Industrial Park.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As a result, there\u2019s a deep sense of anxiety and trauma among families. Some kids, she said, don\u2019t want to go to school, fearing their father or mother will be picked up.<\/p>\n

\u201c(ICE\u2019s) tactics are extreme, radical,\u201d Oma\u00f1a said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen people I\u2019ve known for years with (post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past eight months, Oma\u00f1a said she knows 10 people who were arrested by ICE. But she\u2019s heard of a lot more arrests.<\/p>\n

Alethea Smock, a public affairs officer for ICE based in Denver, wrote in an emailed statement that deportation officers \u201care sworn law enforcement officers who carry out the arrest, detention and removal of illegal aliens in a professional manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cICE continues to focus its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,\u201d she wrote. \u201cICE does not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shelby Robinson said she traveled from her home in Mancos to join the protest, saying she is \u201cappalled\u201d by the current treatment of immigrants in the country.<\/p>\n

\"About
About 40 people showed up Tuesday morning for a sunrise vigil in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Bodo Industrial Park.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cUnless you are Native American, almost all of us are immigrants,\u201d she said. \u201cWe all had chances and came from somewhere else. No one should be denied that.\u201d<\/p>\n

La Plata County resident Margaret Cozina said ICE\u2019s actions are a \u201cform of terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who have been here for decades are being picked up and sent out of the country,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not right. Our hearts are touched, and we don\u2019t want this kind of activity in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smock wrote: \u201cAliens arrested by ICE for violations of law as part of the agency\u2019s targeted enforcement actions receive all due process afforded to them under the law. In performing their sworn duties, ICE officers conduct themselves in accordance with the authorities conveyed to them under federal law and the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

For security reasons, ICE said it does not disclose local staffing levels. The agency also did not provide the number of arrests it has made in Durango.<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

to end scare tactics, arrests of undocumented immigrants<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[2194,904,52,4259],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-94549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-illegal-immigrants","tag-immigration","tag-law-enforcement","tag-newsletter-sign-up"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94549"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=94549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}