“I’m afraid to go back to a country where there is no law,” said a woman from Venezuela.

She wanted to remain anonymous. “There is no safety. Life is worthless. We don’t have any safety. My husband was kidnapped by the regime.”

President Donald Trump plans to end temporary protected status (TPS) for people from Venezuela by April 7. Living in Juneau for almost a year, she said she is afraid of deportation following the administration’s changes.

TPS is a federal program protecting people from countries devastated by war or natural disasters from deportation. It also grants them work permits. About 1 million immigrants from 17 countries are protected by TPS. The decision will take away the status of about 350,000 immigrants.

On Thursday night, about 40 people fearing deportation listened to the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska (ACLU) and the Alaska Institute for Justice (AIJ) give advice on how they can exercise their rights while interacting with state and federal law enforcement. Interpreters were available for Spanish, Haitian Creole, Ukrainian and Russian speakers. The event took place at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in downtown Juneau.

“I am exercising my right to remain silent,” the group, including children, said in unison after instruction from the organizations. “I want to speak to an attorney and I do not consent to any searches.”

Mara Kimmel, the executive director of ACLU Alaska, said the mission of ACLU is to preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone.

“We mean all Alaskans, no matter where you were born,” she told the attendees.

Kimmel and Anna Taylor, AIJ deputy director, recommended immigrants have a family safety plan, know their alien number, have an attorney to call and have documents ready. No immigration detentions have been confirmed in Juneau, but raids have occurred in Anchorage. For many, the fear comes from not knowing what’s next.

Ukrainian refugees in Juneau still hold humanitarian status. But they are taking life day by day.

“When things are not stable it makes us nervous,” said Andrii, whose family was the second from Ukraine to seek haven in Juneau since the beginning of the Russian invasion. “When you know the future, you can build.”

The U.S. government has ended the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV), and paused the Uniting for Ukraine and Welcome Corps private sponsorship programs. Refugees who have already arrived in the U.S. are not affected by this policy announcement and are not at risk of losing their status. However, humanitarian parole is temporary. It expires after two years and new applications are not being processed currently due to the pause. That means refugees needing to reapply for parole are uncertain of what lies ahead. Ukrainian refugees currently have no clear path to citizenship, according to Catholic Social Services (CSS).

Joyanne Bloom and Jo Boehme are a part of the national organization Sponsor Circles in Juneau. The nationwide effort helped resettle Ukrainian and Afghan refugees. Even though Sponsor Circles ceased when Trump ended the Refugee Admissions Program, the Juneau commitment hasn’t.

Bloom said there are no plans to host more families in Juneau. The decision is unrelated to the administration’s changes and is a consequence of Juneau’s housing shortage.

Boehme said most of the volunteer work through Juneau continues. Since first arriving, refugees have been able to secure jobs and housing, learn English, access health care and food benefits, and navigate legal work.

“We have the kind of hearts for it,” Boehme said. “We continue providing support by being friends, going on walks at the beach, and telling them about events like these.”

ACLU Alaska and AIJ gave a similar educational presentation to the broader Juneau community at the University of Alaska Southeast on Wednesday evening, but instead of “Know Your Rights” it was titled “Know Your Responsibilities.” Approximately 50 people attended that presentation, with many wanting to know how to help.

The answer was to learn about their rights and Trump administration changes. People at both events learned that only federal agencies can ask for immigration status, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). State law enforcement, including Alaska State Troopers and the Juneau Police Department, cannot.

Although the end of the Refugee Admissions Program doesn’t impact the Juneau Sponsor Circles, it had immediate consequences for 22 individuals who had flights booked to Anchorage. They had to return to refugee camps instead. Eight cases were canceled as a result of the closure of the refugee program.

“One of those cases was a sister, so it was a family tie, and they hadn’t seen each other for 14 years,” said Issa Spatrisano, the Alaska State Refugee Coordinator through Catholic Social Services, the only refugee resettlement agency in the state. “This has real implications for real Alaskans who live here.”

She recommended community members attending the UAS panel let local officials know the Refugee Admissions Program is valuable. City and Borough of Juneau Deputy Mayor Greg Smith and Assembly member Maureen Hall attended this week’s presentations.

Alaska does not have an immigration detention center — the closest is in Tacoma, Washington. Two full-time U.S. Border Patrol officers were recently stationed full-time in Juneau. As an official port of entry, Juneau has had a full-time U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer for many years.

At the UAS presentation, Kimmel noted a policy prohibiting ICE officers from enforcing immigration laws in schools, churches and hospitals ended under Trump, meaning the spaces are no longer protected. But Kimmel said those organizations can label themselves as private spaces, which would require immigration officers to obtain a judicial warrant to enter.

The resources presented this week are available in different languages on the ACLU website.

Immigrants benefit Alaska’s economy

Before presenting to the public and immigrants and refugees, ACLU Alaska, AIJ, CSS, Alaska Literacy Project (ALP), Project Alaska, and Anchorage Community Land Trust spoke on immigration to the Alaska Legislature’s House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday afternoon. Alaska has the fourth-highest rate of naturalized citizens in the country. Kimmel said this is a testament to their commitment to the state.

“People who come to Alaska are really here out of love for the state,” she said. “They are contributors to the community.”

Rep. Genevieve Mina (D-Anchorage) is the daughter of Filipino immigrants and serves the Anchorage neighborhoods of Airport Heights, Mountain View and Russian Jack — the most diverse schools and census tracts in the nation. She said diversity comes from immigrants and refugees. She asked Tetyana Robbins, the executive director of Project Alaska, how the state can help.

“It’s impossible to prepare,” Robbins responded. “It depends on the administration.”

She arrived in Alaska in 2004 from Ukraine. When she found out about the invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, she thought she might have lost her family forever. But she was able to contact them after they fled to Poland.

“Today we say, ‘Hey, go back home,’” Robbins said. “They have no homes. They lost everything.”

She said their career choice and education can still be up to them. CSS helped fund Project Alaska, which helps Ukrainian refugees find jobs. Project Alaska helps them convert their existing education to fill workforce needs in Alaska. She said the labor market inclusion rate is faster compared to other refugee groups and has changed the landscape of the state. More than 2,000 refugees from Ukraine have come to Alaska since the war began, according to Project Alaska.

Although the state cannot stop federal practices, Spatrisano said it could change policies to make credentialing easier and build job training programs to help integrate refugees and immigrants. She said while the majority of workforce-eligible CSS clients are employed, many are working jobs that don’t match their work experience and skill capacity.

“We want a strong economy with enough workers,” she said. “That’s what we all want.”

Immigrants and refugees bring a wide range of experience and technical skills. According to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, many individuals, such as doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, lawyers, accountants, and others, have attained degrees or technical licenses in their home countries.

Mina said in an interview Friday the workforce is one of the top issues in the state due to an outflow of young professionals. She said language accessibility is important, and employers can be mindful of this when posting opportunities and conducting interviews. She said digital literacy is another barrier.

“There are so many immigrants, refugees, new Alaskans, who have been a part of the state for so many generations who have been actively contributing to build a family here,” she said. “We’re a huge part of the workforce. And so when we’re talking about trying to figure out how we can hone in our workforce and fill all these different job vacancies, and grow the experience of the people who are already in the workforce, new Alaskans need to be part of that conversation because I think we’re constantly overseen in the workforce conversation.”

Mina said the conversation has been centered on recruiting people from the Lower 48, but people who are here are severely underutilized. She suggested employers build connections with CSS and ALP.

“There is so much more that we can do to better bring those voices into the direction of our state,” she said.

ALP offers opportunities for advanced English and English learning as an independent non-profit offering free classes for residents with funding through the Department of Labor. Deepika Ramesh Perumal, the executive director, asked legislators to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. She said the first thing an immigrant would need is language access.

“Imagine either you, your loved one, your children…moving either alone or with a family to completely a new country where a different language is spoken,” she said. “They’re moving either for a higher education or they’re moving to start a new family, to be with their loved ones, or they cannot have a stay in their home country. They’re looking for a better life.”

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.