Editor’s note: All names in this story, unless otherwise noted, are pseudonyms or nicknames because the individuals interviewed feared retribution from the government or their employers.

When Rahma first heard that 50 to 200 federal agents were being sent to Lewiston to ramp up immigration raids in January, she got worried.

Despite being a naturalized citizen, Rahma worried about being detained for a long period of time and being separated from her children. Leaving her home felt unsafe. So did the thought of sending her kids to school.

As she limited how much time she spent outside her home, only going to work, her kids’ school and grocery shopping, she slipped into depression.

But almost immediately, people jumped into action to help support her and other immigrants and ensure their immediate needs were being met as they sheltered at home.

One example is “Ash,” a Lewiston resident who helped coordinate rides for immigrants through a loose network of 40 to 50 “neighbors” helping to get immigrants to appointments and bring them necessities. Most of the group members were white or not immigrants — people who felt like they were less likely to be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

“It’s really cool, actually, to see how quickly we created a trusted group from people who know other people that they trust,” he said. “It’s actually been really beautiful to see. I wasn’t really sure how it was going to work out at first either.”

Many of his neighbors are immigrants. Ash said that when he heard federal immigration raids were going to increase in Lewiston, he knew right off he was going to act. He connected with people who also wanted to help, and together they formed a group he refers to as “neighbors helping neighbors.”

The group grew exponentially as members invited trusted friends to join them, he said.

On average he would help coordinate two to four rides a day. Others helped more or less often, he said, all doing it on a volunteer basis.

Most people who helped work full-time jobs and pitched in when they were able, he said. It’s unclear how many rides were given by his group because they purposefully did not track that data for safety reasons. 

Rahma said it was encouraging to see the way the Lewiston community rallied around her and other immigrants, helping to drive kids to and from school, bringing people necessities such as medications, giving immigrants rides to doctor appointments and grocery stores, and watching out for ICE agents while kids were at bus stops and walking to school.

“There were a lot of good people,” she said. “A lot of people that came through and supported the immigrant community, not just the Somali but the immigrant community as a whole.”

A TOUGH CHOICE

Much of the fear in the immigrant community was driven by parents worried about being separated from their children.

Lewiston school officials tried to quell parents’ fears about agents possibly targeting students and parents who were going to and from school, but none of it made Rahma sleep better at night.

Officials told parents that schools were off limits to the federal agents without a judicial warrant and that they would not work with agents who were seeking to contact students or parents on school grounds.

But officials did not provide remote learning for students staying at home, or give kids who live close to school a way to get there without walking.

“I think they did what they could by just putting the word out there, informing parents, but I don’t even know what I expect them to do,” Rahma said. “We were hoping for them to either figure out a way to either do a temporary transportation for the kids, kids that do walk, kids that could be a target.”

Many immigrant parents who usually carpooled to drive kids to school stopped out of fear they would be targeted by federal agents.

Faced with a tough choice, Rahma, and many other immigrant parents decided to keep their kids home from school Monday, Jan. 12, the first day of the heightened raids. She and others feared being pulled over and targeted while bringing their kids to or picking them up from school.

Raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents increased in Lewiston starting the week of Jan. 12.

While federal authorities said they were targeting criminals who were in the country illegally, many cases involved people with no criminal records whose attorneys said they had legal status in the country.

Rahma told her middle school child that if she did not feel comfortable going to school she could stay home, but Rahma did not keep her kids out of school long.

Lewiston High School teacher Ashley said she saw a noticeable decrease in the number of students in her classes while federal agents increased their presence in Lewiston.

Many immigrant students who did go to school skipped games, clubs and other extracurricular school activities because parents did not want them away from home outside of school hours, Ashley said.

Attendance in her classes dropped to about half in mid-January, she said, though after ICE operations eased up in Lewiston at the end of January she saw attendance rebound.

Student attendance fluctuated through January, with some schools seeing much higher absences than others, according to Lewiston school data.

The high school saw the highest number of absences during that month, peaking on Jan. 16 and Jan. 27 at 561 and 601, respectively. Total school enrollment is 1,464, according to the data.

Among the city’s five elementary schools, Montello and Robert V. Connors elementary schools saw the most absences in January. Both schools serve neighborhoods where many immigrants live.

When federal operations increased Jan. 12, absences at Montello and Connors began to rise daily, according to school data.

During the week of Jan. 20, when ICE’s “Operation Catch of the Day” began, all city schools saw high absence rates, with Montello and Connors experiencing the sharpest increases among elementary schools, peaking at 276 absences and 176 absences, respectively, on Jan. 27. Montello has 649 students enrolled and Connors has 719 students.

Overall, total absences at all city schools spiked to 1,093 on Jan. 20, then decreased the next day before rising to a peak of 1,545 on Jan. 27, according to school data. Enrollment among all elementary schools, the middle school and high school is 5,035.

Truancy and student absenteeism is a general problem in city schools, Superintendent Jake Langlais said, and though there have been waves of cold and flu cases among students, he acknowledged that some absences in January were likely attributed to fears around immigration enforcement, real or fabricated.

“Our goal remains the same, to keep our schools as a safe place to be,” he said. “No immigration enforcement has occurred on school grounds, at bus stops, on walking routes before or after school, or at any school events in our community to my knowledge.”

STUDENT FEARS

Both of Rahma’s children, one in middle school and one in elementary school, were anxious about the immigration raids in the city. Her younger child had anxiety about Rahma being detained by federal agents. Her older child found an outlet for their feelings through writing and poetry. But inevitably her children’s mental health was impacted, she said.

Missing school can be more disruptive for some students than others, Ashley, the Lewiston teacher, said. School is a place where kids can get reliable meals, support from trusted adults, access to a warm building and opportunities to socialize with peers.

“And if they can’t access that because they don’t feel safe to be transported to and from school or to walk to and from school, I think that’s the biggest concern among educators,” she said.

On top of that, students feared that a parent or loved one would be picked up while they were away, and some were concerned about how they would pay for possible bail, she said.

For the immigrant students who did attend school, classes were a distraction from their fears, but it was always in the back of their minds, she said. Teachers helped talk some students through these emotions.

Beyond the confines of the school, teachers can only hope there is some kind of community support for those in precarious situations, Ashley said.

Many high school students seemed to support and empathize with the struggles of students from immigrant families, she said.

When high school students organized a walkout Jan. 30, they asked students to wear black in solidarity with immigrants that day. Although many students did not feel safe to participate in the walkout, nearly 70% of the school’s student body wore black, Ashley said.

At a time when students can look on social media and find hateful comments about immigrants, she said, it helped for immigrant students to see that members of the community supported them.

“It was really moving to see a lot of our students understand the power of allyship,” Ashley said.

LOSING A SENSE OF SAFETY

Rahma came to Lewiston when she was in elementary school. Though she and other immigrants have faced racism, she has gained more safety, security and access to basic necessities from being in the United States, which were scarce at the Kenyan refugee camp she was in.

But the nature of the immigration raids in the past year have made her feel like that safety and security are in jeopardy.

“Do we have the safety? Do we have the security? I don’t think so,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like it because you don’t know if you’re going to be targeted, just because I wear a hijab.”

“We’re not helping our neighbors because they’re helpless; we are being in solidarity with them because we know their fight is our fight. I don’t want anyone to think that the immigrant community needs white people because they’re weak. They are the true leaders in this moment and the people that we should be … following their lead.”

‘Ash,’ a Lewiston resident who helped coordinate rides for immigrants

Since ICE activity has died down, her depression has turned into anxiety, fearing when the next time enforcement activity will increase in the community.

Ash and other “neighbors” do not plan to stop rideshare services, hoping to build it into something more sustainable, he said. They want to be prepared for similar scenarios in the future.

Since last November, Ash said he has been in a dark place. But seeing how quickly the rideshare group came together restored some optimism.

“The bonds and relationships that I’ve created so quickly, seemingly out of need, with these fellow drivers has been like no organizing that I’ve ever been a part of, and it’s given me real concrete hope,” he said.

He said it has been humbling for him to help support people who have survived more than he will ever understand.

The experience also made him see the difference between helping people and standing “arm in arm” to fight with them, he said.

“We’re not helping our neighbors because they’re helpless; we are being in solidarity with them because we know their fight is our fight,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to think that the immigrant community needs white people because they’re weak. They are the true leaders in this moment and the people that we should be … following their lead.”