Police chief helps quell local immigration fears

Deportation fears working their way across the country since President Donald Trump’s return to office have reached Sampson County, where, local officials said, misinformation has migrant families afraid to leave their homes.

Trump has repeatedly emphasized that migrants accused of crimes will be the initial targets for deportation, but he’s also said all migrants in the U.S. illegally could be subject to deportation.

At the center of those troubles here at home is the role local law enforcement will play in aiding deportation efforts. Seeking to clarify those misconceptions, which Clinton Police Chief Anthony Davis said were being falsely spewed on social media and within the community, the Rev. Jaime Carrion of El Arca de Jehova partnered with the chief to help ease the minds of fearful immigrants in the community.

“Pastor Jaime Carrion over at Jehovah church on Johnson Street, I’m good friends with him, and he reached out to me,” Davis explained. “Obviously, with everything going on in the country, there are some questions about immigration, and there were some false rumors going around the community. People were posting on social media about picking people up and that type of thing, so he had asked if I’d come speak to the congregation. So I went just to reinforce our role in policing and what we do and don’t do. That’s what it basically boiled down to.”

For Carrion, who’s an immigrant from Ecuador and a community leader among immigrants, having Davis speak was vital to quelling the fears mounting among his congregation and the migrant community. It was a moment he realized was necessary after an accidental call brought police to his church.

“What was forming in the community was a sense of fear, and people didn’t want to go out because of that fear,” Carrion’s stepson Christian Felipe said, interpreting for Carrion. “The Sunday prior, one of the toddlers dialed 911 by the mistake, and two officers came to the church to see what was going on.”

Carrion said that’s when his own worries began, all because of the response he got from his congregation.

“I got worried because after service there were people that told me, ‘I wanted to run out’ because they thought it was immigration,” Carrion said. “There were people who stayed in the parking lot, whenever they saw the patrol cars, and other people left because they said that they had fear.

“Also, on social media, people put up a lot of negative things,” he added. “People were uploading pictures of other raids going on, saying that it was happening in Clinton, so our people were scared. Even more of my worry came about when I went to the store and I saw that the stores were empty, so I said we need to do something. That’s when we invited him (Davis) so that way it would be him to bring that message of safety and ease those fears.”

In his message, Davis said he wanted to ensure anyone living in fear right now that they had nothing to worry. His reasoning, the Police Department’s job of protecting and serving all people in the community remains unchanged.

“At the end of the day, I was just trying to ease some hearts and minds about the role of the local police,” he stressed. “For us, our job doesn’t change, we continue to do what we do every day. “When I went to speak, they told me they were just worried, in general, because there were rumors about ICE agents coming into jobs and schools and that type of thing.”

Davis said generally it was that fear that folks doubt the Police Department’s role came into play.

“That’s when they said they’re worried about our role,” Davis said. “They were scared that if they encounter police, how far do we take it? So an example I gave to try and help ease their fears was a traffic stop. Say if you get pulled over for speed, a seat belt, registration, just a routine traffic stop, your local police, we’re not checking your immigration status. There’s actually no way for us to do that.

“I also referenced House Bill 10 in North Carolina that directs detention facilities and sheriffs to cooperate with ICE, only if people are brought in that are charged with particular crimes, felonies and certain violent misdemeanors,” he added. “That’s why I wanted to speak to them because I think the most important part in all this is educating the public on the role of the police here in Clinton.”

Bringing in Davis was the correct call, according to Carrion, who noted he saw some of the panic from his congregation subside.

“People felt safer, and their emotional state was a lot better,” Carrion said. “I’d say the most important takeaway from what he talked about was definitely him specifying the Police Department’s function in the city. He (Davis) made it clear that he was there as a public servant to the community, and within his services is also protection. That makes it clear that people can be safe, and that’s aside from their migratory status.”

He continued, “He let them know and made them feel like they belong to Clinton just as everyone else does, that means he is here to protect you. That’s the message I feel was recorded, and that’s what gave the people the sense of security that they could go about without fear.”

While Carrion said Davis words helped clear the air, as a community leader among migrants, he also had a message, one centered on doing what’s right.

“For me, what I’d like to say to my people is make sure you’re doing things the right way,” he said. “They shouldn’t be fearful because I think the laws are very clear. As long as the community is doing the right things, their migratory status won’t matter. If they’re doing it right, they have to feel safe. Something that was very clear from the Police Department is that, obviously, it’s against the people that are doing bad things or who have criminal records. I’m on the side that if someone does something bad, that brings danger to the community, they must be deported back. But, those going to work, going to school, people going to church, because they are doing the right thing, they shouldn’t be fearful.”

While fears have lowered among Carrion’s flock, for now, one conversation isn’t enough to completely quell concerns. Taking a page from Davis, Carrion said his next steps to continue this momentum is spreading knowledge.

“I think the main thing is to keep the public departments that are here to serve us, continually building that sense of community,” he said. “That’s something that should always be done, not just in the church. That’s going to allow people to be informed because one of the things that brings about fear is lack of knowledge. And, unfortunately, misinformation is multiplied.

“To be able to create a system of communication is important to bring stability to the city and the county” he added. “So it’s a calling to the leadership, the pastors, the priests and businessmen, for every one of them to form a part of that public system, because we all have influence. We need to be united without the condition of religion or race. The important thing here is to be able to live together stably.”

His remaining message was that now is the time to take those steps.

”I think that it is the time in which the community needs to understand that there has never been a divided city or community that prevailed,” Carrion said. “Unfortunately, the world is conditioned by politics, by economic levels or by social levels. Everything has always pushed us to be divided, so again, this is the time the community needs to understand that those limits can be broken, and together we can more forward under any circumstance.”