Baltimore officials help Highlandtown businesses brace for ICE

Shortly before 6 p.m. Monday, a woman ran into a hair salon in East Baltimore with a warning that many in the community have become familiar with.

Reyna Villegas, the hair salon owner, recalled the woman saying, “I think immigration is on the corner. Lock the door.”

Turns out, it was not U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, but Baltimore City officials coming to inform Highlandtown business owners how to protect themselves and their employees should ICE agents approach them.

ICE has not launched a surge in Baltimore similar to the one this past winter in Minneapolis, where two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents. But residents remain concerned about such a prospect as the Trump administration continues its focus on deporting immigrants.

Mayor Brandon Scott was joined by representatives of various city offices as well as the Baltimore Development Corporation in walking from the Southeast Anchor Library Branch. They spoke with business owners and employees at barbershops, hair salons, restaurants and grocery stores along Eastern Avenue.

Officials braved heavy winds to provide entrepreneurs with information about their rights to deny ICE agents access to their private establishments, as well as about receptacles to carry necessary legal documents should they be stopped by federal officers and insight on Safe City Baltimore, a legal immigration defense fund.

“We have to be prepared and smart and strategic,” said Scott, a Democrat.

Highlandtown is a mostly Hispanic immigrant neighborhood in Southeast Baltimore that has been a site of increased immigration enforcement over the last six months. Officials said they’ve heard growing concerns from business owners related to the activity.

“As soon as we saw an uptick in enforcement, we really already started hearing from the business owners. A lot of employees were concerned about their well-being and ability to go to work,” said Christopher Lundy, director of the Mayor’s Office of Small and Minority Business Advocacy and Development.

Villegas, an American citizen who is originally from Mexico, said she knows several people who’ve been deported. She said she just witnessed someone being arrested by ICE agents on Sunday.

Outside her shop, she said, a red Nissan has been parked for two months, since the driver was arrested by immigration enforcement officers.

Villegas has lived and run her business in the Highlandtown area for some 20 years. Villegas estimates that her shop’s clientele has decreased by 50% due to the rising cost of everyday goods and fears of running into ICE agents, she said.

“People have been afraid to walk around because of immigration officers,” Villegas said.

Catalina Rodriguez Lima, director of the Mayor’s Office of Immigration Affairs, said immigrants’ fears of leaving their homes has had economic ripple effects on businesses. Lima said people are moving with extreme caution and saving for whatever could unfold.

“In some cases, [they are] also making sure that they’re saving money to prepare for legal fees, or deportation, or having to go back to their country of origin, Lima said. “We think it’s a combination of things.”

As officials from Scott’s office hit the ground, City Council members voted to pass legislation prohibiting the Baltimore Police Department from cooperating with ICE, banning the city from collecting and sharing data on people’s immigration status and restricting immigration enforcement officers’ access to city buildings. Scott indicated he’d sign the bill into law.