Syracuse City Hall Credit: Chris Libonati | libonati@centralcurrent.org

The City of Syracuse held a virtual community briefing Monday in response to recent executive orders cracking down on immigration that were issued by President Donald Trump.

City and state officials, law enforcement, local charity leaders, legal experts and labor rights activists spoke at the briefing moderated by Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development Michael Collins.

Mayor Ben Walsh said the city held the briefing to share the city’s insights on how the new immigration policies might affect the rights of Syracuse residents.

City councilor Chol Majok, a candidate for mayor and refugee from South Sudan, criticized the Trump administration at the beginning of the briefing. He called the new federal directives “degrading.”

“Many of us who came from other countries and settled Syracuse and called Syracuse a home feel that we have the support of the community, as it is a testament of tonight,” Majok said. “Although our current federal administration is not showing that same sentiment locally, we do feel very good in how we are in this community, and how the community is very supportive.”

The briefing, about two hours long, answered community questions submitted ahead of time, as well as a few answers in the conference’s chat.

Here’s an overview of the discussion:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

At the forum, speakers from law enforcement and the city school district covered their policies about working with ICE.

The Syracuse Police Department sent a statement to be read by Collins that said the department collaborates with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on criminal investigations inside city limits.

He also read a statement from the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office that said the office has no specific policy that guides how it does or doesn’t collaborate with ICE.

“Any arrest or detainment of an undocumented immigrant would be based on a detainer or administrative warrant signed by a judge,” the statement said.

Jessica Maxwell, executive director of the Workers’ Center of Central New York, emphasized the importance of “knowing your rights” when dealing with ICE, urging residents to request a judicial warrant, as opposed to an administrative one, before allowing ICE officers to enter their homes.

An ICE administrative warrant is an internal document that allows ICE to arrest suspects of breaking immigration laws but is not signed by a judge and does not legally allow ICE into a person’s private residence.

“You can ask them to show it through a peephole, slip it under a door, put it up to a window, take a photo of it, send it to a trusted advocate who can help you understand what you’re dealing with,” Maxwell said.

Residents can buy cards that list rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment, particularly about search and seizure, Maxwell said. They are known as “Know Your Rights” cards and can be purchased from the New York State Leadership Council.

The Syracuse City School District sent Laura Kelley, the district’s chief of student support services. The district cannot share the immigration status or identification information unless ICE presents a warrant or if the school has parental consent, Kelley said.

“Essentially what we want to make sure that all schools know is that if they need support or assistance, to call the superintendent’s office, and if there is an official presenting a warrant, that we get that to our attorney so that we can get legal advice about how to proceed,” Kelley said.

Sal Curran from the Volunteer Lawyers Project, a nonprofit organization that provides free legal services across Central New York, said that those at risk for deportation should complete a designation of person in parental guardianship.

“We really want to make sure that our community is as safe as possible and that our children are taken care of,” Curran said.

Refugee resettlement programs are struggling

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order that suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

Catholic Charities, a local resettlement organization, could not accept refugees who had recently arrived even a few days before the suspension, according to Program Director Felicia Castricone. When the U.S. Department of State canceled reception and replacement contracts on Feb. 27, even refugees able to travel to the U.S. were not allowed services.

Castricone said that 90 refugees were scheduled to arrive in Syracuse between January and February.

“This included many individuals who have relatives already in Syracuse, including a former refugee whose elderly parents were set to arrive, and a family whose 9-year-old has leukemia and has not been able to receive treatment overseas,” Castricone said. “If you can imagine waiting years for family reunification with close family members only to have their flights canceled with little hope of actually ever being rescheduled, you can begin to understand the devastation that these executive orders have had on our refugees already here.”

The executive orders also cut federal funding to resettlement programs, which required Catholic Charities to either lay off or furlough 51 staff members, Castricone said.

The order has not frozen federal funding to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement — a pool of federal funding used by refugee resettlement organizations like Catholic Charities — although it may be at risk.

Curran said that the Office of Refugee Resettlement is used by the Volunteer Lawyers Project’s Afghan legal services, which provides assistance to refugees fleeing Afghanistan.

“Today we’ve served over 360 individuals and families through that funding and have gotten well over 50 families in asylum, so they’re able to be here in the long run, among other outcomes,” Curran said.

Castricone said that Catholic Charities also plans to support its existing refugee population with grants provided by New York state.

“As long as that funding is considered obligated, we have not seen a slowdown in refugees coming to our offices to seek assistance, and we are also continuing to assist over 1,000 Ukrainians who are here on temporary protected status or humanitarian parole,” Castricone said.

Some state programs are unaffected

Elizabeth Hradil, the Central New York liaison for the New York State Office for New Americans, spoke to attendees about how some of the state programs remain unaffected by federal regulations. That includes programs offered by the Office of Language Access. The Office for New Americans works closely with the Office of Language Access.

“We continue to remain in the state budget, and all of our continued programs will continue to be overseen in Upstate New York,” Hradil said.

The status of DACA

VLP Director of Immigration Sarah McDowell highlighted that Trump’s executive orders do not affect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. Those under DACA are still able to renew their status.

“We’re waiting to sort of see what comes next for the future of DACA and new applications moving forward, depending on the Trump administration’s position,” McDowell said.

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Brenne Sheehan is a freelance journalist and undergraduate student at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Sheehan can be reached at brenshn73@gmail.com or bsheeh03@syr.edu.