With the new Trump administration’s focus on immigrant deportation, the busy commerce is replaced with empty sidewalks and silent streets.
By Sebastiana Lopez
Transcript
Sebastiana Lopez: South Philadelphia is a tapestry woven with threads from Italy, Ireland, Mexico, and beyond. The aroma of conchas, a freshly baked Mexican bread in Bachiadama, and Italian sandwich cookies fills half of Ninth Street, while the other half is consumed by fresh citrus and herbed scents of produce. Now, with the new Trump administration, the busy commerce is replaced with empty sidewalks and silent streets. The new authorized enforcement operation is to deport undocumented immigrants, fulfilling his campaign promises to address illegal immigration.
President Donald Trump: Hundreds of illegal alien criminals per day, including those with charges and convictions for rape, child sexual assault, terrorism, and even murder, many murders in the crowd, and many, many of these murders…
Sebastiana Lopez: The market has deep roots. By the 1940s, the Ninth street Curb Market was named the Italian Market, named for the many Italian-owned shops and loyal family shoppers. And by the 1980s, the Italian market merged with a new wave of immigrants, making space for the first Korean-owned establishment and other cultures. According to new research from the Migrant Policy Institute in Washington, the undocumented population in the United States has climbed to a record 13.7 million. Migrants from Mexico make up the largest share, about 5.5 million, or 40 percent of the total. Since Trump’s inauguration and the rise in threats against the immigrant community, leaders like Councilmember Rue Landau have stepped up to support the people of Philadelphia.
Rue Landau: But I am here today to reaffirm our city’s commitment to sanctuary. I will do everything in my power to ensure that public resources will never be used to support federal deportation efforts, track and target people based on their national origin or ethnicity or enforce discriminatory laws.
Sebastiana Lopez: As the president allowed U.S. Immigration and customs enforcement to enter schools and churches, many have taken the storm to the streets. And taking it to the school district.
Activist: They are going around and taking people into horrible detention centers, ripping families apart. They may seem like numbers to you, but to us, their family, our parents, our dads, our moms, our siblings, they are harming us.
Sebastiana Lopez: Rumors of ICE raids sparked uncertainty within local immigrant communities in South Philadelphia. Crew stands were abandoned. Reyna, originally from Hidalgo, Mexico, and now a resident of South Philadelphia, witnessed her neighborhood shift into a state of constant tension, with many residents unsure of what tomorrow might bring.
Vendor translation: I’ve seen changes in the places I’ve shopped and frequently visited. I stopped going there because they’re the most vulnerable in something happening.
Sebastiana Lopez: South Philadelphia, once a vibrant and full of life, now find themselves living in constant fear, with people unsure of what is to come as they are threatened by deportation measures. For the Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting, Sebastiana Lopez.