Immigrant activist: Detentions are ‘psychological warfare’
NEW YORK — A detained immigrant activist freed by a judge’s ruling said Tuesday that U.S. immigration officials are engaging in “psychological warfare” by targeting him and other activists for detention and deportation.
“When you look at who they’re taking away, it is evident that activists and leaders are being picked up,” Ravi Ragbir told The Associated Press. “We know that this is psychological warfare they’re instituting against the community so that people will believe there is no hope.”
Ragbir, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago who leads the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City, a coalition of 150 faith-based pro-immigrant groups, was among a number of activists who have been detained in recent weeks as President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts to deport people with criminal records.
Ragbir was in Washington with his wife on Tuesday to attend Trump’s State of the Union address, both as guests of lawmakers. He said afterward that it was difficult to see the reaction from people in the room who “totally bought into what he was saying.” He said the president’s speech was “filled with cruel, empty, hollow words.”