LOGAN – Immigrants who came to the country illegally are being round-up and flown to various locations outside of the United States as federal officials are trying to keep President Trump’s promise of mass deportations. Even the Utah legislature is working on a measure, HB226, that would make it easier to deport illegal immigrants in Utah who have broken the law.
While the wrangling of state lawmakers continue, Cache County groups have their concerns about deportation of illegal immigrants and the effects it could have on area communities.
Logan City Councilman Ernesto Lopez said there are many concerns in the immigrant community regarding the topic of deportation.
“The prospect of deportations and raids in the community is probably the main concern, along with the intimidation and racial stereotyping that immigrants may suffer as a side effect from immigration enforcement and ideologies that are politically aligned,” he said. “The concerns and news regarding this topic were the top posts and shares in the local Latino Facebook group a few weeks ago, but I have not heard of local immigration enforcement events in the valley.
“If we look at raids like the ones at JBS in 2006 we might see much more discussion on the topic. I’m sure we’ll see much more discussion and organization to deal with the aftermath of such a thing. At this point, a lot of the efforts are about sharing with people ‘know your rights’ type of messaging.”
Some schools in Utah are seeing attendance dips due to fears of students being deported, but not in Cache Valley.
Jenda Nye, a Cache County School District spokesperson, said she reached out to their student services director, Alden Jack, and asked about the potential impact of immigration concerns on attendance.
“He does not have information readily available for all schools, but he ran an attendance report for several of our schools, and when comparing by year, as well as by month, the schools didn’t see a significant difference in their average daily attendance,” she said. “So, while there may have been an impact on certain individuals, it does not appear that there has been an impact districtwide.”
Director of Communications for the Logan School District Shana Longhurst said they checked with administrators of their 5,307 students preschool through grade 12 and found nothing that would indicate absenteeism has been effected by deportation news stories.
“We have asked our administrators if they see an uptick in absenteeism,” she said. “Watch it. If they see it, report back to us. We have not seen or heard anything, but it is on our radar.”
Megan Davenport, the development and communications coordinator for Cache Refugee and Immigrant Connection, said the refugees they work with are legal residents and should not have to worry.
“However, misinformation and general anti-immigrant sentiments often cause concern and confusion,” she said. “Others, such as Afghan Humanitarian Parolees, who were approved for Temporary Protected Status, are particularly unsure whether they will be targeted.”
The refugee households CRIC works with are from Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Myanmar, Guatemala, Honduras, Syria, Venezuela, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a few from others countries.
“As a point of reference, in 2024 we resettled approximately 30 new families into Cache Valley,” Davenport said. “They are free to move in and out of the area. Many of our clients do not require our services, as they are established members of the community.”
CRIC meets new arrivals at the airport and helps them make Cache Valley their home; however, recently their funding has been paused indefinitely.
“We are not even sure that we will be paid for past work helping those who arrived in January, before the suspension,” she said. “Many of our other programs, like our ability to provide extended support for refugees beyond just their first 90 days, are also supported by federal dollars that come through partner organizations and the state of Utah. We hope those are not impacted long-term.”
Davenport said the refugee families have felt very supported in Cache Valley. People have been kind and accepting for refugees for many years.
The Afghans who resettled here in 2022 as humanitarian parolees often remark at how much Cache Valley’s mountains remind them of their home they can never safely return to.