As millions of Americans sit down at the table this Thursday to eat the traditional turkey, many immigrant families live this Thanksgiving Day with fear, absences and closed windows.
In Latin sectors of cities like Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Miami, the aroma of Thanksgiving mixes with the anguish over the recent immigration operations of the Trump administration and absences at the table.
“During the last four years, there had been 18 of us at Thanksgiving dinner. We were so grateful to this country that we made a great effort to follow the customs,” Eugenia Blanco, a sports coach, told Efe.
“My parents returned to Venezuela when they eliminated the TPS. My uncles and cousins don’t want to leave the houseexcept to work. They are terrified. I think any bite of turkey would taste bitter to me,” said this Venezuelan resident of the city of West Palm Beach (Florida).
Blanco’s relatives are part of the 600,000 Venezuelans who lost temporary protection (TPS) this year that allowed them to remain legally in the United States, after exhausting judicial remedies to oppose the decision of Donald Trump’s government to eliminate it.
More than 5,000 kilometers to the west, in Seattle (Washington), Raids have left charities with surplus foodbecause fewer families dare tocollect donations.
“Fewer people are coming to our popular pantries since ICE is here, but an increase in arrests on Monday caused almost no one to come looking for turkey donations,” said Van Cuno, executive director of the organization. NorthWest.
In North Carolina, the operation ICE’s “Charlotte’s Web” caused mass absences of students, closure of Latino businesses and cancellation of family gatherings.
Juan de Dios Rodríguez, a waiter at a Greensboro-area Mexican restaurant, not only has two relatives detained by ICEbut He hasn’t worked for three weeks for fear of being confused with an undocumented person..
Turkeys at home like in the pandemic
“The owners closed because almost no one came… This is going to be a very sad Thanksgiving for us”This 38-year-old Mexican-American explained to Efe, who also fears that three of his cousins will be deported.
To generate money he has joined a gardening crew, but afraid of being arrested despite being a citizen. “We know that if you are not white, you are at risk,” he stressed.
In Chicago, the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel decided resume home delivery of Thanksgiving dinnersas in the pandemic, due to the fear of many immigrant families.
“Many people are in an unstable situation and there is a lot of concern about family status and also about prices. For the first time, people He doesn’t have the confidence to dream of a better future.“lamented the parish priest Leandro Fossá.
“This year, Thanksgiving doesn’t taste the same. When you buy food with fear, it stops being a celebration“Wrote Mexican-American activist Julissa Arce on social media.
Historical irony has also become a central topic of conversation.
“This country celebrates a dinner based on the myth that immigrants were welcome, while deports those who support its economy“, indigenous activist Sarah Jumping Eagle wrote in X.
Another viral message said: “The descendants of those who arrived in ships celebrate that they received them, but they persecute those who cross deserts and rivers“.
In Los Angeles, during a public hearing on the effects of the raids, a Central American mother testified: “Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks. I will only ask that my husband come home“.
USA expelled nearly 400,000 migrants in the first 250 days of the second Trump administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which expects to reach 600,000 expulsions in the first year.
