Broken Promises: How Obama’s Immigration Failures Have Put a New Jersey Community on Edge
Saul Timisela was supposed to report for deportation at seven o’clock Thursday morning, but he didn’t show up. Instead, he went to the Reformed Church of Highland Park, New Jersey, where, as of this writing, he is still seeking sanctuary. An immigrant who arrived in the U.S. from Indonesia in 1998 after fleeing religious violence, Timisela suffers from hypertension, heart disease, and liver disease. He does not have a criminal record, say advocates speaking on his behalf. In short, he does not appear to be the type of immigrant that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) claims to prioritize. But he is just one of many such immigrants who currently fear that their lives may be upended at any moment.
Last summer, when the Obama administration issued a memo encouraging immigration officials to abstain from deporting long-term, non-criminal undocumented immigrants, the Indonesian community to which Timisela belongs felt a sense of relief. Many had fled persecution in their home country, including Timisela. (His brother-in-law, a pastor, had been found decapitated in his burnt-out church.) Timisela and his wife, settling in New Jersey, lived in uncertainty for more than a decade. Last summer, they thought they could finally legitimize the lives that they had built in their adopted home.
But in the past few weeks, the Newark ICE office has sent letters to several members of this community, telling them to report to ICE offices with a plane ticket in hand. Eight men, none of whom has a criminal record, have been outfitted with electronic-monitoring ankle bracelets. This is usually a prelude to arrest and deportation—as it was in the case of Timisela, who is one of the eight. For some, these recent developments have led to panic. Families with children or spouses who are U.S. citizens are making plans for possible separation. Activists, who had cautiously celebrated earlier arrangements with authorities, feel spurned. It’s been about nine months since the Obama administration’s proclaimed shift in policy, and many are still waiting for an actual change. As Timisela’s predicament shows, they don’t have unlimited time.