2016 ELECTION/DREAMERS/IMMIGRATION/TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “In historically conservative Staten Island, where President Donald Trump won 57 percent of the vote, residents are readying their homes to keep immigrants protected from being deported.
People like Ruth, a local educator who didn’t want her full name used so Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not identify her, are becoming part of a network to offer refuge to families at risk of deportation and do so in areas where Trump enjoyed strong political support.
‘It’s immoral to take children away from their parents,’ Ruth said. ‘People came here illegally because there was no decent pathway to come here any other way.’
he effort to build an ‘underground railroad’ for undocumented immigrants in Trump country was begun by Cesar Vargas, New York’s first undocumented lawyer. Vargas is currently able to work under former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, or DACA, program. The program shields immigrants from deportation and allows them to work.
‘This has been growing organically throughout the whole country,’ Vargas told NBC News, ‘especially places where Trump won big.’ “
-Cristian Benavides, “In Trump Strongholds, An Effort Is Underway to Keep Immigrants Safe,” NBC, March 10, 2017