FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

St. Louis Rapid Response Coalition Denounces Unchecked Immigration Enforcement 

St. Louis, June 4, 2025: Rampant immigration enforcement is on the rise – and catastrophic for St. Louis. Earlier this week, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff demanded agents increase their detention rate to 3,000 people per day, encouraging undue measures to meet quotas that neither solve problems nor make our communities better. 

The new mandate follows patterns of enforcement that have only increased in severity and frequency. Over the last two days, ICE has sent text messages to require massive numbers of immigrants to show up for a “case review” only to be detained for removal from the US. The people targeted were given permission to live in the US. Many have been here for several years, and some have been here for more than a decade. Everyone is left with bad options. 

“The fear and chaos created by ICE have no place here in St. Louis. We won’t stand for communities and families being senselessly torn apart for political points. We will stand together and not stay silent when these unamerican policies come knocking on our door.” - Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez, 6th Ward 

Mandates like these have sweeping negative effects. Calling in massive numbers of immigrants harms their well-being, devastates families, and strategically prevents most from receiving legal representation or reliable information about immigration options. Having to triage so many cases also further stretches 

legal services, as those who have been complying with the system for years are unexpectedly and swiftly deported. 

“Eric* is one of the immigrants who received the text message telling him to report to ICE. He has a US citizen wife and 2 US citizen children. He received a removal order more than 10 years ago, just for missing a hearing. Since then, he has reported to ICE at least once a year, keeping his address updated with the agency. He has a work permit and files taxes. He has worked with an attorney to explore immigration options. But Eric is stateless: he is unable to obtain a passport from his country of birth. For that reason, he has been unable to complete the process of obtaining status through his US citizen family members. Now, he faces either indefinite detention –because ICE cannot deport him to his country of birth–or deportation to a country that he has never visited.” 

- Jessica Mayo, MICA Project (*name changed to protect client confidentiality) 

Separating families causes trauma in our neighborhoods and communities, but there are many local efforts to reduce harm underway. On Wednesday morning, area advocates and attorneys will explain how this national pattern of immigration enforcement is taking shape in our region. Then, on Friday, June 6 at 2pm (location to be announced on Thursday), all are invited to attend a rally and demand an end to deportations now! 

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The St. Louis Rapid Response Coalition is a group of over a dozen trusted community organizations and individuals that provide legal and other services to immigrant communities in the 16-county bistate region. The Coalition develops, implements, and oversees strategies that equip community members with information and resources and provide quick responses to immigration enforcement activity. 

For more information, please contact krichardson@stlgives.org.