Targeted and Living in Fear

Credit: Santos Ambriz, @trueunique on Instagram

Christian Manzanares moved with her mom and dad from Los Angeles to Bend when she was around four years old. Twenty years later, she doesn’t remember life outside of Central Oregon. Yet, despite being born in the U.S. and growing up in Central Oregon, she says she’s always lived with a sense that she and her family don’t belong — and a fear that at any time her family could be taken.

It’s a fear that eased some when her mom became a naturalized citizen roughly a decade ago, but one that she says she felt again in 2020 during Donald Trump’s first term in office. The fear returned when Trump was sworn in for a second time.

“I went shopping the other day, and I was talking to one of my uncles on the phone in Spanish,” Manzanares said, “and when I hung up, a man who’d been following me around the store came up to me and said, ‘Soon you and your people are going to get what you deserve.'” The aggression echoed what she remembers experiencing as a high schooler in 2020 when she was shoved into a locker and students handed out fake green cards to Latinos at her school as a joke.

Last month, just six days after Trump’s second inauguration and a flurry of executive orders, proclamations and directives — including those targeting immigrants by threatening prosecution for local officials who obstruct immigration enforcement, declaring an invasion at the southern border and suspending the country’s refugee resettlement program — Manzanares’ fear for her family was realized when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained her uncle in a grocery store parking lot in Bend.

Her uncle, Ariel Antoliani Sandigo Manzanarez, was arrested and taken to a deportation center in Tacoma, Washington. Manzanarez was the first confirmed detention in Central Oregon under the new administration. His arrest sent shockwaves through the Latino community.

“When my uncle got detained, like immediately after I found out, I started posting on social media,” Manzanares said. “Nobody wanted to believe me, and everybody was like, ‘Oh, how dare you make up lies or fearmonger.'” Since then, there have been two other reports of people picked up by ICE, according to immigration advocates in Bend.

“It’s
critical for folks to understand that they have rights and that they have a
right to ask for things such as a copy of that judicial warrant. They have a
right to not answer questions, not give out their immigration status. They have
a right to deny speaking to ICE agents.” —Janet Llerandi Gonzalez, Mecca
Bend

After being arrested in Bend, Manzanarez was moved around to different facilities throughout the U.S. As of Feb. 17, he was expected to be deported within days to Nicaragua, where he emigrated from in 2018 seeking political asylum, according to Manzanares and confirmed by her uncle’s lawyer. Following his entry to the U.S., Manzanarez was held for two years in a detention center in Arizona before being released in 2020 and ordered to leave the country. However, Manzanares said her uncle’s mental state was unstable after two years in detention and having witnessed brutal killings in Nicaragua before he left. It took years to get him to a place of recovery where he could start pursuing an appeal for that 2020 deportation order, she said.

Manzanarez’s lawyer, Brian Wolf with Equity Corps of Oregon, said that like many similar cases they’re seeing throughout the U.S., Manzanarez was likely targeted because of his outstanding deportation order. Wolf is petitioning to reopen the case and asking for a stay of removal so Manzanarez can remain in the country pending a decision. Wolf said Manzanarez has a strong case because his attorney failed to show up to represent him at his first deportation hearing in 2020, and Manzanarez was not fit to represent himself because he was suffering from a “pretty severe mental health condition” at the time.

“There’s definitely a big population of people that have been detained and will be detained based on unenforced deportation orders like Ariel’s,” Wolf said. “Some of which might have legitimate claims, very legitimate claims to reopen their cases. Ariel definitely has a very legitimate claim.

“These cases, of people like Manzanarez being taken by ICE officials without warning, are, according to local advocates, keeping many immigrants at home and in fear. The concern that they are not safe in public spaces is compounded by Trump’s orders that roll back protections in areas previously deemed “sensitive places” like schools, churches and hospitals.

The Source Weekly reached out to Bend-La Pine Schools, Central Oregon Community College and OSU-Cascades to ask how each school is responding to the changes. Representatives from each institution said Oregon’s sanctuary laws allow for school officials to deny entry to deportation agents without a warrant and staff has been reminded of that right.

“COCC is committed to creating a respectful and inclusive learning environment for all students, regardless of immigration status. Our college provides privacy protections, financial aid information and additional resources for undocumented students, including counseling and support services,” wrote Lucas Alberg, director of marketing and public relations at COCC, in a statement to the Source Weekly.

“When my
uncle got detained, like immediately after I found out, I started posting on
social media. Nobody wanted to believe me, and everybody was like, ‘Oh, how
dare you make up lies or fearmonger.’” —Christian
Manzanares

“Bend-La Pine Schools’ stance has not changed: Each and every member of our learning community is valuable and contributes to our mission of high-quality teaching and learning. We will continue working to ensure students and staff feel a sense of safety, dignity and belonging while at school or work, so that each student achieves academic success, experiences wellness and develops a passion, purpose and plan for their future,” BLPS wrote in a statement to its community following questions from families about immigration enforcement.

St. Charles Health System, Mosaic Community Health and Deschutes County Health Services, which provide services at sites throughout the county, similarly said that staff has been advised to consult with a supervisor or legal team for guidance if approached by ICE agents, and there is no legal obligation to permit ICE agents into facilities without a signed criminal warrant.

“We also want to assure Central Oregonians that St. Charles is committed to caring for everyone who enters our doors,” wrote Alandra Johnson, public information officer at St. Charles. “It’s vital for the health of our community that individuals feel comfortable seeking out care when they need it. We are here to serve, and our doors remain open to all those in need of care.”

While her uncle was being moved around the country to different detention centers and awaiting deportation, Manzanares led efforts in Bend to host a peaceful protest for immigrant rights. Draped in Mexican and American flags, protesters held handmade signs reading, “No One Is Illegal On Stolen Land,” “Without Immigrants There Would Be No U.S.A.” and “Solidarity Has No Borders.”

Janet Llerandi Gonzalez, who formed the immigration advocacy group Mecca Bend following the high-profile detention of two people in Bend in 2020, said that protests like the one on Feb. 8 help bring the Latino community together and amplify its voice among the broader Central Oregon community. But, in terms of helping protect immigrants now, Gonzalez says more education on rights is necessary.

“It’s critical for folks to understand that they have rights and that they have a right to ask for things such as a copy of that judicial warrant,” Gonzalez said. “They have a right to not answer questions, not give out their immigration status. They have a right to deny speaking to ICE agents.”

Manzanares is aware of those rights. In the weeks before her uncle’s arrest she was trying to get the word out to neighbors and friends — even going so far as to print Know Your Rights Red Cards, which have information on them about constitutional rights.

“I was already printing them out and posting about it and handing them to my neighbors and friends,” Manzanares said. “And part of me feels guilty because I didn’t think to give one to my uncle. I’m thinking, ‘Well, maybe that could have helped him.'”