Soon after Springdale police signed a 287(g) agreement to cooperate with federal immigration and customs officials last year, Carlos and Judah Marroquin told TribLive they worried about what it could mean for the community.
On Feb. 10, they got their answer when Randy Cordova-Flores, a Peru-born resident who had lived in the borough for years, was detained by ICE agents after being pulled over by Springdale police.
Carlos, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Guatemala, was driving his young son to day care in the borough that morning. It was one of the last times he stepped foot in Springdale.
He and his wife decided it simply wasn’t worth the risk of him being detained there.
Four-and-a-half months after Springdale inked its agreement with ICE and more than a month after Cordova-Flores was picked up, local immigrants say their anxiety has only increased.
“I hope that I would eventually be released,” Carlos said. “How is she going to explain that to the kids? How are they going to explain that trauma through the years?”
The Marroquins live in neighboring Springdale Township, which is served by Allegheny Valley Regional Police. That department does not have an agreement with ICE.
But when the family has to make trips to the borough, Judah — born and raised in Shaler — does the driving.
For Carolina Genet, a Nicaragua-born U.S. citizen who has resided in Springdale since 2009, life in the borough is unavoidable. She lives there with her husband, lifelong Springdale resident Jim Kropelak, and her two children.
About two years ago, she helped to bring her sister and two nieces to Springdale from Nicaragua because, she said, they faced political persecution in their home country. They’ve since applied for asylum and obtained permission to work, she said.
Her sister and elder niece found work at nearby Oakmont Bakery.
But in January, their coworker Jose Flores — also a Nicaraguan asylum seeker — was picked up by ICE agents outside his Oakmont home as he prepared to bring his daughter to school.
Flores was released from ICE custody with an ankle monitor after more than a week in detention, but the brief relief was soon shattered by the arrest of Cordova-Flores, also known to Genet and her family.
Genet said her sister and nieces no longer go out on their own, and regular family outings for activities like dinner, bowling and birthday parties have ceased.
“We haven’t had any reunion because of that,” she said. “We feel sad, but it’s better this way.”
The recent detainments also forced Genet to have tough conversations with Kropelak and her 14-year-old son, who walks to school each day, in the case either of them is detained.
“If they detain me, it’s going to be OK,” she told her son. “Mommy will protect you and guide you.”
When Springdale signed its cooperation agreement with ICE last November, Kropelak said it was “a little upsetting,” but he didn’t think much of it.
After the latest ICE activity in the area, however, he said he has become increasingly concerned for his family.
“If she gets pulled over, is she going to get swept up?” Kropelak said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, and that worries me.”
In the Marroquin house, Carlos said he’s recently stepped up his vigilance even outside of Springdale.
Before a recent trip to Pittsburgh’s Strip District with his daughter, Carlos said he did a quick check of social media to be sure there hadn’t been any reports of ICE activity in the neighborhood.
It’s a practice he has made into a routine before running errands or heading out on excursions.
“It is more of a conscious decision of, ‘Where are we going? Let me check first,’” Carlos said. “‘Are there any reports of activity? Is there anything going on?’”
Because of the current uncertainty, he said, the family has opted for a period of financial austerity, selling off unneeded items and cutting expenses to build up savings.
A trained chef, Carlos has worked in a variety of culinary roles, most recently running a Guatemalan food truck called “El Chucho.”
After three years in business, he and Judah decided earlier this year it was better to close the business, a possibility they had already been pondering.
“It is a combination of just the struggle in the food industry right now along with the political climate,” Judah said.
Their self-constructed food truck is the latest possession they’re hoping to sell.
Judah said recent months have offered one bright spot, however: a community of like-minded neighbors she didn’t know was there.
Several friends and community members have reached out to express their support for the family, Judah said.
It also led her to help form the Allegheny Valley branch of Indivisible, a progressive organization that maintains hundreds of chapters throughout the nation.
The group held a protest outside Springdale Council’s meeting Tuesday in an effort to push the borough to exit the 287(g) agreement, but council offered no indication at the meeting that it intends to change course.
Springdale Police Chief Derek Dayoub, the sole signatory to the borough’s ICE agreement, did not return a TribLive request for comment.