The mayor of the Inland Empire is urging residents to stay indoors and be vigilant to those they don’t know in the US immigration and customs enforcement operations in the area.
“Look at home and don’t open the door to strangers,” Mayor Perris Michael Vargas said in a video message on Instagram.
The city posted a video in Spanish and English on Wednesday after receiving reports of ice operations in the area.
“We encourage all residents to settle down, stay indoors as much as possible and know your rights,” Vargas said. “Don’t go out unless it’s necessary.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 78% of Riverside County’s 83,000 residents are Hispanic or Latinx.
“This message is about recognition and safety,” Vargas said. “The city is committed to protecting the dignity and happiness of all its residents.”
In a statement to the Times Friday, Vargas said:
“However, the city of Perris does not have the legal jurisdiction to interfere with federal immigration officials during the investigation, so it is not capable of doing anything more than encourage residents to research and learn about their legal rights,” he said.
For more than a month, the Trump administration has stepped up its immigration enforcement efforts, including the arrest of hundreds of undocumented immigrants with no criminal history, which has led to fear in the immigrant community in Southern California.
Immigration agents target car washes, shopping centres, swamp meetings and other businesses.
Vargas’ message came out after Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Parish of San Bernardino told his nearly 1 million parishioners he could stay home on Sunday to avoid concerns surrounding the ongoing federal immigration attacks.
Rojas’s guidance included encouraging members to “maintain spiritual communion” by praying the Rosary or reading the Bible.
