Angelina Godinez ’28
Opinion Editor
It’s been a little over a month since the last, and only, public statement made by Mount Holyoke College President Danielle R. Holley concerning Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deportation raids in Massachusetts. President Holley spoke at a community forum on Jan. 28, where she addressed students’ concerns following recent executive orders regarding financial aid, the Department of Education and ICE raids. As previously reported by Mount Holyoke News, Holley stated in an interview following the forum that “ICE is like every other law enforcement agency.”
“In order to enter a private space … They need a warrant that is signed by a judge.” Holley said. “They would need to have probable cause related to a student, staff or faculty member … We plan to try to fully protect our students.” She added, “once someone is swept up by federal detention, it becomes very hard. But our plan for the college is to work to protect our students, faculty and staff, even if they are in federal detention for immigration.”
In a recent interview with Mount Holyoke News, Professor David Hernández, the College’s Critical Race and Political Economy co-chair and an expert in immigration enforcement, praised Holley for these strong statements given what little information is truly known about the effects of ICE raids in Massachusetts.
“Compared to 2016-17, you know, with the first Trump administration, it's a much stronger statement than the previous leadership at the College around protecting students. And not only a much stronger statement, but a much more informed statement than our previous leadership had around immigration rights.”
But despite Holley delivering an informed statement on immigration policy and how it affects the College, the vagueness of her comment due to the limited information and reliable data on deportations available at the time allows room for lingering anxiety on campus. As the end of the semester comes near, many students prepare to make travel plans, but for others, it is still unknown what the school will do to provide affordable and safe housing throughout the summer to students in need.
In addition to the uncertainty on campus, on Jan. 30 and 31, Instagram was flooded with panicked stories reading. For instance, one post stated, “ICE has raided Garcia’s in Amherst, MA and are currently in the Amherst and Hadley area. Please be careful and safe out there and warn all your loved ones.” Another user posted, “A family friend has a friend that works at Garcia’s and she told [cause] this just happened tonight, sadly 5 [people] ended up getting deported.”
On Jan. 31, similar messages were shared with a bright red background reading, “Western Massachusetts people you NEED to be SHARING THESE REPORTS OF ICE … these are your neighbors, friends, teachers, classmates, fellow human beings - no one deserves this.”
Despite the panic, these alleged raids in the Amherst-Hadley area were later confirmed to be false by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, which stated that Garcia’s, a popular Mexican restaurant in Amherst, Massachusetts, temporarily closed due to rumors of ICE raids and to protect the safety of their workers. Since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, there have been countless rumors of ICE raids within multiple Western Massachusetts cities, all of which have fortunately been proven false. Regardless of the false alarms, it is important that students, staff and families remain vigilant, know their rights and do not give in to the fear this cruel administration has unleashed.
ICE, and the oppressors known as the U.S. government, thrive off of the fear they create through these false numbers, rumors and statistics. President Trump promised to deport millions of migrants, but within his first month back in office has deported fewer migrants than the Biden administration’s 2024 monthly average. According to Reuters on Feb. 21, “President Donald Trump deported 37,660 people during his first month in office … Far less than the monthly average of 57,000 removals and returns in the last full year of Joe Biden’s administration.”
Nevertheless, there is a significant difference in press covering mass deportations between the administrations, which proves that Trump's administration depends on theatrical antics that incite chaos and fear. That is not to say these mass deportations should be scoffed at or ignored in any sense. One human being’s displacement affects hundreds of others, so any comparison between the effectiveness of past and current administrations concerning deportation is the comparison between thousands of human lives being put in danger.
Hernández said it best: “The thing to remember about migration and deportation is that the unit of analysis is a human being. So any one person gets deported from our community, that's going to disrupt something, it's going to disrupt the family, it's going to disrupt a workplace. It's going to be harmful, so [remember] never to minimize that.”
Mass deportation has been, and will continue to remain, a part the Eurocentric agenda President Trump upholds. There is no lesser of two evils when comparing statistics that represent thousands of human lives. The oligarchy that now takes form as the U.S. government will only continue to displace migrants, treating them like disposable objects. The only way to attempt to fight against these Eurocentric ideals is to look out for your community.
Our government has been flooded by rich businessmen whose only concern is filling their pockets. They will not stop placing human lives in direct harm, because they are not for the average hardworking person trying to make ends meet in America. We have long since lost the narrative of “We the people”; not only are we separated from our dystopian government officials by tax brackets, but by the general concern for and value of a human life. Thus, we have to take the burden of caring for each other upon ourselves.
With the average cost to deport one person being over $10,000 according to the Center for American Progress, and it potentially costing nearly $114 billion to deport 11.3 million humans, not even the collective bank account of Trump’s cabinet can cover the expense of their promised deportation and the trillions of dollars of debt the U.S. government is drowning in.
The only way these millionaires dressed up as government officials can create the damage they promise is through fear. This fear is what causes people to act rashly, making them vulnerable pieces in this sick exchange of human lives known as mass deportations.
This is echoed by Hernández, who states that “They want us to feel nervous. They want us to get depressed, because they can't get everyone. They know that. They know they don't have the capacity to get people, and they've even complained about in Chicago about the community, knowing their rights and stuff. They've attacked [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] for saying, ‘Know your rights…’”
The government does not want us to be informed, let alone united against their oppression. Despite targeting sanctuary cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Boston, the power lies with the people. This includes Mount Holyoke College. By uniting, sharing notices about current and future raids and distributing “know your rights cards,” we can attempt to continue to slow down this cruel administration and protect our community in the face of anxiety and adversity.
Like Professor Hernandez says, “You don't have to be a lawyer to fight for immigrants’ rights, you know, you can be a lot of things, and fight for immigrants. You can be a professor, you can be a student. You can write things to the newspaper. You can write for the newspaper.”
Leah Dutcher ’28 contributed fact-checking.
