The City of Fort Wayne held an immigration informational forum Saturday to answer questions and hear concerns from residents about increasing ICE presence across the country.
The crowd became agitated toward the end when immigration attorney Jerri Mead suggested it was up to the family to have a plan in place for what would happen to children if their parents are detained.
Mayor Sharon Tucker stepped in to address the advice when the crowd began booing and yelling at Mead for the answer. She said it was a hard truth and that while anger can be a helpful tool, it can only get you so far.
“We then have to come up with a plan and that’s what we need to start doing now is working through what that plan can be and what that plan looks like with the information that we’ve received," Tucker said.
Other panelists included Fire Chief Eric Lahey and Police Chief P.J. Smith. They spent a little over an hour listening to concerns and answering any questions they could. The room was full, with many people standing along the walls.
Sandra Garza, the founder of Fuerza Unida in Fort Wayne, critiqued the panel for missing voices from the immigrant communities in Fort Wayne that are the most vulnerable.
“So I do feel like there are some key pieces that I do feel like we could work together to improve,” Garza said. “Because, solo el peublo salva el peublo, which means the community is gonna save the community, right?”
She also wanted the panelists to hear from some of the people in the community who had reached out to her but were too scared to come to the event. She said she’s heard from mothers scared to send kids to school or people afraid to go to work.
“And so there is a lot of fear and I think it’s important that we’re out on these streets proactively having these conversations so that they don’t lose the trust that they have,” Garza said.
Following the forum, Tucker said she expected emotions to be high and for people to not like all of the answers they gave, especially when it came to legal advice.
“I get it. I get that people wanted to hear something different from a legal standpoint, but we have to deal with facts and the constitution lays out those facts and the law lays out what those facts are,” she said. “And that’s what we try to provide to individuals.”
Tucker said the goal of the forum was to arm people with data and legal advice so they could confidently plan for any situations with ICE.
The city recorded the forum and plans to upload it, along with a Spanish translation, at a later date.
