The Trump administration’s swift actions to detain and deport undocumented immigrants has sowed concern into the friends and colleagues of Arlene Angel. It’s a fear she’s all too familiar with, reminding her of the day an unexpected knock at her door led to her fleeing her home.
Two decades ago, Angel was living in Hartford with her husband and her one-and-a-half year old baby, renting the first floor of a home along with two other family units. At the time, she was undocumented, having immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico.
On a day like any other, there came a knock at the door. Angel opened it to find a stranger who came to warn her that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers may be coming to the house.
“It was scary when the girl came and knocked and told us, 'Look, I’m the daughter of a person who is incarcerated with your friend,'” Angel said in Spanish. “Now, the department of ICE has taken her.”
The friend was also an undocumented immigrant living in the house with Angel. The housemate was involved in a car accident that resulted in her arrest, according to Angel.
“She told us, ‘Get out as soon as possible, because ICE may or may not come but it’s better to be safe,’” Angel said in Spanish. “She said, ‘That’s what your friend wants.’”
Unprepared, Angel said she and the other families rushed to leave and find new housing. The short notice, on top of financial struggles, made it an anxiety-inducing experience to pack up and leave, especially without a plan.
“I had my baby,” Angel said in Spanish. “One and half years old, almost two years [old]. So, I got scared.”
Within four days, Angel said all their belongings were outside on the curb, because they were still looking for housing and were unable to keep their belongings in the house in the meantime.
Her family did eventually find a new apartment. Angel said neighbors told her ICE did show up to the house about a week after they were told to leave.
“If we hadn’t acted fast,” Angel said in Spanish, “they would’ve taken us.”
At the time, Angel said she didn’t have a family plan for this kind of emergency, because she was unaware of any resources or organizations that assist immigrants living in Connecticut. Now an advocate with Make the Road Connecticut, Angel said she encourages others to take the steps to prepare that she didn’t.
What is a family preparedness plan?
“A family preparedness plan is kind of a road map to a family and their child's current living situation and what to anticipate in an event of a possible emergency,” said Enelsa Diaz, Managing Attorney at Greater Hartford Legal Aid.
Emergencies can include the death of a parent, the event of a medical emergency or the detainment and/or deportation of one or both parents.
Packets for the plan include resources and worksheets to fill in details pertaining to a child’s current living situation that will support a child’s assimilation to a new caregiver and home.
According to Diaz, information can include contact details for medical providers, teachers or other individuals the parents deem important to contact in the case of an emergency. The packet can also have a child’s school schedule, including classes, sports or extracurricular activities, and other important details that play a part in the child’s day-to-day life, like food allergies or screen time.
The most important piece of the plan, however, is the standby guardianship form.
“With the standby guardianship form, the parent is designating a new person to step in as the parent,” Diaz said. “Guardianship is a legal relationship which allows the designated person to act as a parent to the child to make medical decisions, decisions regarding their education and well being.”
In order to complete the form, Diaz said all that is needed are both consenting parents and two witnesses that are not becoming the guardians but observed the completion of the form.
“If [this document] is properly completed with witnesses, it does not require being notarized and it does not require being filed with the court,” she said. “An appropriately completed consented and witnessed form then will take legal effect upon the pending condition,” such as a parent being deported.
The family preparedness plan can be helpful even if the standby guardianship form can’t be completed, Diaz said.
“Even if they can't do the standby guardianship forms because they don't have a consenting parent, there's still so much on there that they can do to complete information that would be helpful to another caregiver,” she said.
There has been an uptick in people calling Greater Hartford Legal Aid expressing interest and asking questions about this form with Trump’s return to office, Diaz said.
The increase in interest coincides with the great amount of fear that she’s noticing in the community, Diaz said. The fear has remained firm, if not grown, because of news and talk about ICE detaining people, she said.
Despite a handful of reports of ICE sightings in the state, ICE officials have confirmed only one arrest in Connecticut since the start of the Trump administration – a man who served time for sexual assault and was picked up by immigration authorities when he was released from prison.
Creating a family preparedness plan can be a difficult conversation to have, she said, because it can be frightening and uncomfortable to think about the possibility of a parent being deported.
“I encourage people to have these conversations, because it does help reduce the anxiety,” Diaz said. “Some people feel that speaking about these things will raise anxiety, and speaking about deportation or speaking about the child living with someone else will raise anxiety for the child and the parents and caregivers, but I think having this conversation, as difficult as it may be, is good for all involved.”
Better prepared than sorry
Arlene Angel learned about resources like the family preparedness plan when she connected with local advocacy groups like HART, or Hartford Areas Rally Together.
Through the organization, she was able to learn what her rights are, how to prepare a family plan, how to file taxes and how to advocate for others. She became an active advocate with HART and fought for change in how local officials and law enforcement interact with immigrants, she said, becoming one of the many voices that led to Hartford setting forth an ordinance declaring itself a sanctuary city in 2008.
She was also able to meet with advocates providing legal assistance, eventually connecting with a lawyer that helped her obtain permanent residency with a green card for herself and her husband.
“It was a marvelous thing,” she said in Spanish about getting her green card. “I am proud to say that thanks to these organizations that support us, blessed be God, that we know our rights. We live without fear and we have hope.”
Now, with anxiety gripping the immigrant community, Angel is encouraging her friends and colleagues to take the necessary steps to be prepared as an advocate with Make the Road Connecticut.
“I’ve already told many of them about [family plans]. I’ve given them paperwork, so they can also have a family preparedness plan,” Angel said in Spanish.
Angel said a lot of her friends who have recently arrived in the U.S. are so afraid, they’re contemplating moving or not showing up to work. However, she said, they don’t want to stop working because of the bills they have to pay.
Angel is pushing for them to go to workshops that organizations like Make the Road Connecticut host for immigrants to learn their rights and to speak with immigration lawyers. The baby with whom Angel fled her home all those years ago, now 22-year-old Saira Valencia also participates in advocacy events with Make the Road Connecticut when she has the time.
“You have to learn, I tell them. You have to learn your rights, because it’s better to be safe than sorry,” Angel said in Spanish. “You don’t want something to happen and then think, ‘I should have done those things.’ That’s precisely what these programs are for.”
Learn more
Greater Hartford Legal Aid was one of the many organizations that helped in creating the state of Connecticut’s Family Preparedness Plan template, according to Diaz. The plans are available in multiple languages and include a standby guardianship form.
Make the Road Connecticut is an advocacy group that supports immigrants through legal services, civic engagement, education and other resources.
- The organization hosts various meetings and events covering a wide range of issues, including immigration.
- The group also has Know Your Rights material available in English and Spanish.
