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Bay Area immigrant communities feeling anxiety over potential deportations

Tension over Trump's promised deportations spike in Bay Area immigrant communities
Tension over Trump's promised deportations spike in Bay Area immigrant communities 03:12

President Donald Trump's promises of mass deportations have already heightened tensions among immigrant communities in the Bay Area.

In San Francisco, a false report about an ICE agent confronting a middle school student on a Muni bus Thursday only added to those concerns.

SFPD and Mayor Daniel Lurie's office on Friday both confirmed the reported encounter did not happen, but it didn't take long for the rumor to spread, even prompting the San Francisco Unified School District to mention the incident in a letter to families before it was debunked.

"Instilling fear is part of their playbook, and it's working," said Bill Ong Hing. 

Hing is the founding director of the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic.

He says he understands the concerns but urges caution. 

While many undocumented are coping with deportation fears, Ong Hing also believes it's crucial to not let that fear lead to extreme measures. 

"Send your children to school. Go to work. ICE does not have the capacity to do what it is threatening to do," said Ong Hing. 

While a Visitacion Valley Middle School student's report of an ICE agent boarding a SFMTA Muni bus turned out to be false, it caused real concern within the immigrant community with social media posts stating the rumor as fact. 

"We understand people are fearful and so we are in contact with community leaders and will communicate with the public," said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.  

"After conducting a thorough multi-agency review, we are confident and relieved that there was no federal immigration enforcement action on a Muni bus yesterday. At the same time, the fear in our community is real, and that fear makes all of San Francisco less safe," read a statement issued by the Mayor's Office. 

Days ago, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era policy that protected certain areas such as churches, schools, and hospitals from immigration enforcement. 

ICE said it takes many factors into account when targeting and arresting individuals including their criminal and immigration history. 

"When Mr. Trump talked about mass deportation of 10 to 12 million folks, there's no capacity to do that. There's no resources, not enough detention centers, not enough immigration judges, they can't do that," said Ong Hing.

As for the immigrant community, Jeff Harp is a former FBI agent who said the first step is to verify a person, identifying him or herself as law enforcement.

"If they don't show you ID and indicate why they're there or show you ID that shows that they're actual immigration and customs enforcement agents, then you don't as a person here in the U.S. have to identify yourself," said Harp.  

The San Francisco hotline providing emergency legal assistance for people detained by ICE says it received more than 50 calls Thursday mostly related to concerns about ICE agents on a MUNI bus. 

It says on a normal day, it receives four to five calls.

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