Si bien las cifras específicas para Nueva York bajo la nueva administración federal aún no están disponibles, los informes de los medios de comunicación y los comunicados de prensa del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) sugieren que ha habido más de 340 arrestos de inmigrantes entre enero y mediados de abril en todo el estado.

Manifestación de residentes contra la actividad local de ICE en Fulton, Nueva York, el 25 de abril de 2025.. (Erin Fiorini/Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network)

Este artículo se publicó originalmente en inglés el 5 de mayo. Traducido por Daniel Parra. Read the English version here.

Era la tarde del 21 de enero y el presidente Donald Trump acababa de tomar posesión unas horas antes.

Ese día el esposo de María recogió a sus cuatro hijos del colegio y, de camino a casa, otro vehículo chocó contra ellos. María había estado trabajando en el turno de la noche limpiando oficinas desde las 7 p.m. hasta las 6 a.m. en Fulton, en la región norte del condado de Oswego, Nueva York. Pero las llamadas a su teléfono móvil la despertaron.

“Mami, llegó inmigración y se lo llevaron”, recuerda que le dijo su hija de 15 años, que en ese momento iba en el asiento delantero del vehículo familiar. Después del choque, María dijo que su esposo llamó a la policía e inmigración también llegó, de acuerdo con su hija.

Cuando María, quien pidió ser identificada con un pseudónimo por miedo a poner en peligro su proceso de inmigración, llegó al lugar del accidente, su esposo ya estaba esposado.

Él es uno de los cientos de inmigrantes indocumentados que se estima han sido arrestados en Nueva York en lo que va de año, como parte de la promesa de la administración Trump de llevar a cabo deportaciones masivas. En todo el país, el número de arrestos de inmigrantes en febrero ha sido el más alto de todos los meses en los últimos siete años, informó The Guardian.  

Si bien las cifras específicas para Nueva York bajo la nueva administración federal aún no están disponibles, los informes de los medios de comunicación y los comunicados de prensa del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) sugieren que ha habido más de 340 arrestos de inmigrantes entre enero y mediados de abril en todo el estado.

“Como parte de sus operaciones rutinarias, ICE detiene a los extranjeros que cometen delitos y otras personas que han violado las leyes de inmigración de nuestra nación”, dijo un portavoz de ICE a través de correo electrónico, y agregó que la oficina regional de ICE en el norte del estado de Buffalo “está investigando activamente los delitos de inmigración en ciudades de todo el norte, oeste y centro del estado de Nueva York.”

María dijo que su esposo no tiene antecedentes penales. 

En un comunicado de prensa sobre los primeros 100 días de la nueva administración, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS por sus siglas en inglés) afirmó que el 75 por ciento de las 158.000 detenciones de ICE en todo el país desde que Trump asumió el cargo eran inmigrantes con condenas pasadas o cargos pendientes. Pero los informes de los medios de comunicación han documentado un número creciente de personas sin antecedentes que son atrapadas por ICE.

Bajo la sombra de la estatua de la libertad, Nueva York ha sido percibida durante mucho tiempo como una ciudad que acoge a inmigrantes. Pero las iniciativas de la administración Trump se están sintiendo incluso en la ciudad de Nueva York, donde se han realizado cientos de arrestos de ICE a pesar de las leyes santuario que restringen la cooperación del gobierno local con las autoridades de inmigración.

El alcalde Eric Adams también ha desafiado una de las leyes santuario que expulsó a ICE de Rikers Island hace más de una década.

Aunque el alcalde afirma que la medida tiene por objeto mantener a “las personas peligrosas fuera de nuestras calles”, los legisladores de la ciudad criticaron el cambio, diciendo que haría que los inmigrantes neoyorquinos se mostrarán aún más reacios a cooperar con la policía o a denunciar delitos.

Tras la demanda interpuesta por el Concejo de la ciudad contra el gobierno de Adams, el 21 de abril la jueza neoyorquina Mary Rosado bloqueó la orden ejecutiva del alcalde por la que se permitía la entrada de agentes de ICE a Rikers Island, decisión que la jueza reiteró el 25 de abril, prorrogando la orden de restricción temporal.

Concejales y defensores de los derechos humanos llevaron a cabo una manifestación frente a la alcaldía el 10 de abril para protestar contra el plan del alcalde Adams de permitir que ICE opere en Rikers Island. (Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit)

Durante una entrevista en el programa de Fox News “My View With Lara Trump”, el alcalde Eric Adams —quien recientemente vió cómo se le retiraron los cargos de corrupción contra él por el Departamento de Justicia de Trump— se refirió a las leyes de ciudad santuario como un “concepto”.

“Mucha gente no se da cuenta de que no hay una ley de ciudad santuario. No es una ley. Es un concepto”, dijo el alcalde en una entrevista el 19 de abril.  

Más allá de los límites de la ciudad, el estado de Nueva York tiene un mosaico de leyes santuario, que existen principalmente en ciudades como Ithaca y la capital en Albany.

En 2020, durante el primer mandato del presidente Trump, los defensores de los inmigrantes de Nueva York y los legisladores estatales presentaron el New York for All Act, un proyecto de ley que prohibiría el uso de recursos estatales y locales en la ejecución de la aplicación de la ley de inmigración.

Una legislación similar fue aprobada en estados vecinos como Nueva Jersey y Connecticut. Pero tras años de presión, este proyecto aún no es aprobado.

Los defensores que hablaron con City Limits dijeron que la transformación en la aplicación de la ley de inmigración en Nueva York es evidente. Después de los arrestos, las personas son colocadas en un centro de detención, lo que significa que ha habido un aumento no sólo de arrestos, sino también de detenidos.

Durante unas semanas, el esposo de María estuvo detenido en el centro de detención del ICE en Batavia, Nueva York, antes de ser trasladado a un centro de detención en Luisiana. Fue deportado a El Salvador el 14 de marzo, un día antes de que salieran los tres primeros vuelos de inmigrantes amparados bajo la ley Alien Enemies Act.

“Todos los extranjeros que infrinjan la ley de inmigración estadounidense pueden ser objeto de arresto, detención y, si se determina que pueden ser expulsados por orden definitiva, expulsión de los Estados Unidos, independientemente de su nacionalidad”, dijo un portavoz de ICE.

Tras la detención de su esposo, María perdió su trabajo de limpieza porque tenía que cuidar de sus hijas por la noche. Acaba de encontrar un nuevo trabajo, pero dice que han sido tiempos difíciles para todos.

“No era un hombre delincuente: iba de la iglesia al trabajo”, dijo María a City Limits. “Era un buen padre. Eso es lo que más me dolía”.

Un efecto escalofriante, pero también solidaridad

Los defensores de inmigrantes del norte del estado afirman que cada día reciben más informes sobre detenciones de inmigrantes.

“Hemos visto actividad en granjas, madereras, restaurantes, distribuidores de alimentos, iglesias, plantas de empaquetado, obras de construcción”, dijo Jessica Maxwell, directora del Workers’ Center of Central New York. “La mayoría parece tener como objetivo a los trabajadores y tratar de atraparlos mientras transitan, cuando son más vulnerables”.

Los avistamientos de agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza, ICE o el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, combinados con los informes de los medios de comunicación y las historias que circulan en los canales de la comunidad inmigrante, han creado un “efecto escalofriante” en todas estas comunidades.

Los activistas describieron que la gente ha dejado de ir de compras al mercado, a la iglesia o a eventos sociales por miedo, tal y como ocurrió durante la pandemia.

El 25 de abril, un grupo de residentes protestó en Fulton “contra ICE y a favor del debido proceso”, dijo Erin Fiorini, defensora voluntaria de la Red de Defensa de Inmigrantes y Refugiados de Syracuse. 

“Hay granjas de las que ya no sale nadie”, dijo Maxwell. “¿Cuánto tiempo es esto sostenible para la gente?”.

“Para gran parte de nuestra comunidad, sobre todo en North Country, es como una pandemia. No salen a cenar. Se han cancelado las ligas de fútbol”, añadió. “La gente ya no sale a eventos sociales. Ni siquiera a la iglesia”.

En medio de este miedo, voluntarios, residentes y organizaciones como el grupo de base Alianza Agrícola, dirigido por trabajadores agrícolas, han creado redes para encargar y entregar alimentos a quienes tienen demasiado miedo a salir de sus casas o sus lugares de trabajo.

Las medidas no se detienen ahí. 

“Uno de ellos [un trabajador agrícola] me dijo ayer que todo el mundo está empacando cajas y enviándolas de vuelta a Guatemala porque la gente siente que es como una bomba de tiempo”, dijo Maxwell. “Es cuestión de tiempo y no quieren perderlo todo. No quieren perder todas sus cosas”.

Para ponerse en contacto con el reportero de esta noticia, escriba a Daniel@citylimits.org. Para ponerse en contacto con la editora, escriba a Jeanmarie@citylimits.org.

The post En primeros 100 días de Trump, arrestos a inmigrantes provocan temor en toda Nueva York, pero también forjan lazos comunitarios appeared first on City Limits.

By HOLLY RAMER and AMANDA SWINHART

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Palestinian student arrested during an interview about finalizing his U.S. citizenship helped launch a $1 million fundraising campaign to strengthen the legal safety net for immigrants in Vermont on Thursday, a week after a federal judge freed him from custody.

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Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, who led protests against Israel’s war in Gaza at Columbia University, spent 16 days in a state prison before a judge ordered him released on April 30. The Trump administration has said Mahdawi should be deported because his activism threatens its foreign policy goals, but the judge ruled that he has raised a “substantial claim” that the government arrested him to stifle speech with which it disagrees.

Immigration authorities have detained college students from around the country since the first days of the Trump administration. Many of them participated in campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Mahdawi was among the first to win his freedom after challenging his arrest.

“This is a message of hope and light, that our humanity is much larger than what divides us. Our humanity is much larger than unjust laws,” he said at a Statehouse news conference. “And this is also a message to the rest of the world. It starts from Vermont.”

Mahdawi joined Vermont State Treasurer Mike Pieciak, Senate Majority Leader Kesha Ram Hinsdale and community advocates to announce the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund. The group, which also includes lawyers and philanthropists, says the fund will be used to expand the legal team at the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, train pro bono attorneys and partner with community groups to support those facing deportation, detention and family separation.

“I am here with a large and diverse group of Vermonters to say: We protect and take care of our people, regardless of their national origin, regardless of their immigration status, regardless of the language they speak,” Ram Hinsdale said. “We take care of our own against any and all threats.”

Members of Vermont’s congressional delegation have spoken up on Mahdawi’s behalf, as have state politicians. Vermont’s House and Senate passed resolutions condemning the circumstances of his detention and advocating for his release and due process rights.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott has said there is no justification for the manner in which Mahdawi was arrested, at an immigration office in Colchester.

“Law enforcement officers in this country should not operate in the shadows or hide behind masks,” the governor said the next day. “The power of the executive branch of the federal government is immense, but it is not infinite, and it is not absolute.”

Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident, was born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. At Columbia, he organized campus protests and co-founded the Palestinian Student Union with Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian permanent resident of the U.S. and graduate student who was arrested in March.

His release, which is being challenged by the government, allows him to travel outside of his home state of Vermont and attend his graduation from Columbia in New York later this month.

On Thursday, he described sharing a prison cell with a farmer from Mexico who prayed every night.

“I think his prayers have been answered today by this initiative,” he said. “This is what I call love and care. This is what I call humanity and justice. This is what I call the teachings of Jesus, who would feed the hungry, who would shelter the homeless and who would provide support to illegal immigrants.”

By ISABELLA O’MALLEY

Human-caused climate change intensified deadly rainfall in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and other states in early April and made those storms more likely to occur, according to an analysis released Thursday by the World Weather Attribution group of scientists.

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The series of storms unleashed tornadoes, strong winds and extreme rainfall in the central Mississippi Valley region from April 3-6 and caused at least 24 deaths. Homes, roads and vehicles were inundated and 15 deaths were likely caused by catastrophic floods.

The WWA analysis found that climate change increased rainfall intensity in the storms by 9% and made them 40% more likely compared to probability of such events in the pre-industrial age climate.

Some of the moisture that fueled the storms came from the Gulf of Mexico, where water temperatures were abnormally warm by 1.2°C (2.2°F) compared to pre-industrial temperatures. That warming was made 14 times more likely due to climate change, according to the researchers from universities and meteorological agencies in the United States and Europe.

Rapid analyses from the WWA use peer-reviewed methods to study an extreme weather event and distill it down to the factors that caused it. This approach lets scientists analyze which contributing factors had the biggest influence and how the event could have played out in a world without climate change.

FILE – A mobile home park floods where rising waters of the Little Sugar Creek meet the Ohio River, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Napoleon, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The analysis found a rainfall event of April’s intensity could occur in the central Mississippi Valley region about once every 100 years. Even heavier downpours are expected to hit the region in the future unless the world rapidly slashes emissions of polluting gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that causes temperatures to rise, the study said.

“That one in 100 years … is likely to go down to once every few decades,” said Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and the study’s lead author. “If we continue to burn fossil fuels, events like this will not only continue to occur, but they’ll keep getting more dangerous.”

Heavier and more persistent rainfall is expected with climate change because the atmosphere holds more moisture as it warms. Warming ocean temperatures result in higher evaporation rates, which means more moisture is available to fuel storms.

Forecast information and weather alerts from the National Weather Service communicated the risks of the April heavy rain days in advance, which the WWA says likely reduced the death toll. But workforce and budget cuts made by the Trump administration have left nearly half of NWS offices with 20% vacancy rates or higher, raising concerns for public safety during future extreme weather events and the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season that officially begins June 1.

FILE – A home is flooded by the Kentucky River, Lockport, Ky., Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

“If we start cutting back on these offices or reducing the staff … the unfortunate result is going to be more death. We’re going to have more people dying because the warnings are not going to get out, the warnings are not going to be as fine-tuned as they are today,” said Randall Cerveny, a climate professor at Arizona State University who was not involved in the study.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By ADRIAN SAINZ, JONATHAN MATTISE and GRAHAM LEE BREWER

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — After three former Memphis police officers were acquitted Wednesday in the beating death of Tyre Nichols, community and civil rights leaders expressed outrage over another disappointment in the long push for police reform.

Nichols’ death at a traffic stop more than two years ago sparked nationwide protests and renewed calls for systemic change as the first post-George Floyd case that revealed the limits of an unprecedented reckoning over racial injustice in Black America.

Now, Wednesday’s acquittals again show the need for reforms at the federal level, civil rights leaders said.

“Tyre and his family deserve true justice — not only in the courtroom, but in Congress, by passing police reform legislation once and for all,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson posted on social media. “Traffic stops should never be a death sentence, and a badge should never— ever — be a shield to accountability.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke Wednesday to Nichols’ mother and stepfather, said they were outraged.

“Justice can still be delivered,” Sharpton added in a statement, referring to the officers’ upcoming sentencing in a federal civil rights case. “Tyre’s death was preventable, inexcusable, and tragic.”

Nichols, 29, was on his way home on Jan. 7, 2023, when he was stopped for an alleged traffic violation. He was pulled out of his car by officers, one of whom shot at him with a Taser. Nichols ran away, according to video footage that showed him brutally beaten by five officers. An autopsy found he died from blows to the head.

Three officers were acquitted Wednesday of all state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating. All five officers, the city of Memphis and the police chief are being sued by Nichols’ family for $550 million. A trial has been scheduled for next year.

“Let this be a rally and cry: We must confront the broken systems that empowered this injustice and demand the change our nation — and Tyre’s legacy — deserves,” said civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family in the lawsuit.

FILE – This combination of images provided by the Memphis, Tenn., Police Department shows, from top row from left, Police Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, bottom row from left, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith. (Memphis Police Department via AP, File)

After Floyd’s 2020 murder by a former Minneapolis police officer, states adopted hundreds of police reform proposals, creating civilian oversight of police, more anti-bias training and stricter use-of-force limits, among other measures. But federal reforms in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act have been stuck in Congress without enough bipartisan support to get enacted during the Biden administration.

The Nichols case sparked a 17-month federal investigation into the Memphis Police Department, which found a host of civil rights violations, including using excessive force, making illegal traffic stops and disproportionately targeting Black people.

Last year, police traffic-stop reforms put in place in Memphis after Nichols’ death were repealed by GOP Gov. Bill Lee, despite pleas from civil rights advocates.

One of the ordinances had outlawed traffic stops for reasons unrelated to a motorist’s driving, such as a broken taillight and other minor violations. Lee echoed arguments from Republican lawmakers who said Nichols’ death needed to result in accountability for officers who abuse power, not new limits on traffic stops.

Speaking after Wednesday’s acquittal, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy said: “Our office will continue to push for accountability for everybody who violates the law, including if not especially, those who are sworn to uphold it.”

“If we’re going to have any silver lining from this dark cloud of both the event itself and in my view today’s verdict, it has to be that we need to reaffirm our commitment to police reform,” he said.

Thaddeus Johnson, a former Memphis police commander and a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, said Nichols’ beating and Wednesday’s acquittal compound wounds from generations of policing problems in the majority-Black city.

“I do believe that reform is local, but I do believe this has kind of put a black eye on things,” Johnson told the AP. “People feel like police cannot be held accountable. Or they won’t be held accountable.”

Andre Johnson, a pastor at Gifts of Life Ministries in Memphis and a community activist, said he was disappointed but not surprised at the verdict.

“It is extremely difficult to convict officers even when they are on camera,” he said, calling the acquittal ”a loud and clarion acknowledgement that certain groups of people do not matter.”

“For a lot of people who have had engagement with police officers, the message is loud and clear: that even if we get you on camera, doing what you did to Tyre, that you cannot face justice.”

Brewer reported from Norman, Oklahoma. Mattise reported from Nashville. AP writer Travis Loller in Nashville contributed.