"It is happening as we speak": DHS detainments and sightings ramp up across state

Activists and attorneys in Mississippi say they're seeing much of the same across the state, but with much less publicity. 

Local outlets have reported that over the last two weeks, agents detained a family in Ridgeland, several immigrants in Madison County and five individuals just north of Gulf Hills, on the coast.

Immigration attorney Jeremy Litton says he's also heard of agents in the Forest area.

"What we're actually seeing in Mississippi more than anything is surprisingly kind of a focus on the metro area," he said.

In the meantime, he said his clients have been terrified, with a lot of folks hoping to stay inside and wait it out.

"The intention of this was to frighten people more than anything, I think," he said. "That mission has certainly been accomplished."

Although earlier plans reported by the Associated Press indicated that Mississippi sweeps would be in the southeast of the state, many sightings have been around central Mississippi. 

Litton said that DHS is likely casting a wide net in its sweeps, both in Mississippi and around the country.

"The policy right now, and as far as I continue to see it on ground, is they are going out to look for somebody specific and then they're taking everybody they find," he said. "A lot of times they're taking whoever they find first and then they'll try to figure out whether that person is a citizen."

Further south, other folks are seeing the same thing — like Jackie Castro-Cooper, who works with undocumented youth and in helping families on the coast get food when they're afraid to leave their homes or have lost a breadwinner.

She said she's frequently seen agents pulling people over. 

"It has been happening all year: it was bad February and March, the first raid, and then now it is progressing," she said, adding that she'd seen Border Patrol pulling someone over in Cedar Lake a day before she spoke with MPB. 

 "It's happening now. It is happening as we speak."

The current operations in Louisiana have led to the arrests of just under 400 people . The original goal, according to the plans reported by the AP, was to make 5,000 arrests. Only a small fraction of those arrested have criminal records. 

Other challenges persist behind the scenes, though. L. Patricia Ice, legal project director for the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, said that over the past year, immigrants have faced a lot more than just detainments and sweeps.

o"You hear about ICE arresting people a lot, but you don't hear about these things that are going on where people are not getting their interviews or they're not getting their card," she said. 

She said she's seen more and more problems for folks trying to get through the paperwork needed for citizenship or residency.

One immigrant she recently spoke with had a naturalization appointment earlier this month. A few days later, he got an email informing him that appointment — which he'd already been to — had been canceled.

His naturalization ceremony may not happen, either.

"He's a permanent resident who had hoped to be a citizen by the end of this month," Ice said. "But, now, his naturalization oath ceremony is postponed. So he doesn't know when he's going to be able to get it."

Two of Ice's clients had interviews for permanent residency months ago. An officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said they were approved, but they're still waiting for next steps. 

"She said that they were approved and that they were gonna get their green card soon," said Ice. "And now it's December and they don't have their green cards."

Normally, she says, it can take time to get an interview for a green card — sometimes a year or even longer. But the process after that is usually much shorter than what she's seeing now. 

After an interview, it usually only takes about 30 days to get approved for a card and then a few more weeks to receive it in the mail.

As policies change and new rules get issued for immigration, Ice said it's hard for her — and her clients — to keep up.