ORIGINAL ARTIST: KATIE JO SUDDABY
Where communities opposed slave-catchers in 1850, they rally against ICE raids today
Marcial de Leon Aguilar was milking cows in a Central New York barn early April 19, when he was surrounded by armed ICE agents in street clothes, thrown up against the wall, loudly interrogated, and arrested — as two of his children looked on. Since his wife was at the clinic for a pregnancy exam, when they drove him off they left his two youngest children unattended by a parent.
Farmer John Collins, hearing the scuffle, looked in, demanded to know was going on, demanded to see a warrant, was denied, ordered them off his property, started filming with his phone, had it grabbed and thrown across the road, and was then put in handcuffs and threatened with arrest. (He still managed to get the two older kids on their school bus.)
ICE seized de Leon Aguilar at 8:00 a.m. Within an hour, the local rapid-response team, Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network, had the arrest on Facebook and were live-streaming an interview with Collins. By 1:40 p.m., they had called a rally at the Syracuse ICE office. By 3:00 p.m., they had a video of his wife on Facebook. And by 6:00 p.m., Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) was calling for an investigation — based on their reporting.
ICE alleges that de Leon Aguilar has been deported three times before, once 20 years ago after an unspecified conviction for “aggravated assault.” In New York, aggravated assault generally refers to assault on a police officer, a charge that could easily have resulted from an immigration arrest if he didn’t move fast enough or protested too loudly.
Collins himself was threatened with assault on a police officer when the ICE agents surrounded and handcuffed him. He demanded to be taken to court and charged — “People are going to hear about this!” — but ICE just unlocked the cuffs and drove off.
A few days later, rallied by the Defense Network, supporters from churches and community groups (and Collins), packed the federal courtroom for de Leon Aguilar’s bail hearing. His attorney argued that as the sole support of four kids and a pregnant wife he was not likely to flee. The judge acknowledged de Leon Aguilar was no danger to the community but denied bail nonetheless.
Collins says that de Leon Aguilar is his best worker, that New York dairy farmers badly need immigrant labor, and that Virginia and the kids can stay in their house on his farm as long as they need to.
History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. In the run-up to the Civil War, New York dairy farmers participated in the Underground Railroad and faced off against federal marshals enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act. Passed by a Congress dominated by slaveowners, the 1850 law required local communities to aid in returning escaped slaves to their Southern owners. Central New Yorkers decided, No More!
Read more and view video at www.newyorkupstate.com:
‘I couldn’t believe how unprofessional they were:’ Farmer cuffed in ICE raid talks (video)
