"The scare is on": Immigrants are avoiding food aid amid deportation threats
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Food aid lines have shortened in the D.C. area since President Trump took office, a possible sign that immigrant communities are avoiding tapping into services over fears of detention and deportation.
Why it matters: Food insecurity, already a rising problem with inflation and government rollbacks, could increase.
The big picture: Trump's executive orders and directives include green-lighting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in schools and churches, setting arrest quotas and opening Guantanamo Bay for detentions.
- Even if plans to deport "millions and millions" of "illegal aliens" are unrealistic and face legal challenges, "the scare is on," pastor Abdul Sesay tells Axios.
Zoom in: Sesay, who emigrated from Sierra Leone, runs City of Light Helping Hands in Montgomery County. The church-based food pantry distributes essential groceries and cultural items such as masa and smoked fish to its African, Latino and Asian base.
- Over 300 cars typically line up at Sesay's Silver Spring food pickup, but he estimates numbers are down 15%. Immigrant volunteers, nervous about congregating, have also dropped off.
- Across the river in Alexandria, the nonprofit Alive! typically serves more people this time of year, but executive director Jennifer Ayers tells Axios she's also seeing a dip in numbers from their average of 5,000 families a month.
"As an immigrant myself, people work on trust," Sesay says. City of Light has stopped collecting detailed information, including names and addresses, for food acceptance, meeting only the county's base requirements (ZIP code, household numbers). "Many come to us because we won't share information."
Friction point: Data trails are a growing concern. "Clients are afraid of interacting with organizations they usually depend on, especially D.C. being a federal city because their information might be shared," Oye Owolewa, an activist and the District's shadow rep in Congress, tells Axios.
- Owolewa says assistance resistance can result in a "downward spiral" because reduced participation can affect funding for organizations.
Flashback: During Trump's first presidency, waves of immigrants canceled SNAP and other benefits for fear of leaving a trace.
What they're saying: Ayers, of Alive!, is hopeful that the recent extreme cold — rather than intimidation — caused the dip. "We've been here 54 years, we're interfaith, there's no qualifications to get food from us — it's a low barrier to entry," she says.
The intrigue: Food Justice DMV, a pandemic-born operation that delivers food directly to households — many of them undocumented or asylum seekers — is flooded with calls, experiencing a new wave of need from those afraid to leave home.
- They're hoping for more donations and volunteers, who'll often drop off "know your rights" ICE cards along with groceries.
- "We were a lifeline during the pandemic," founder Denise Woods tells Axios, "and now we'll be a lifeline through whatever happens next."