Deportation rates in Los Angeles promote fear and uncertainty among immigrant communities in San Diego. China experts led by Susan Shirk give recommendations to the administration. This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. It's Monday, February 13 . Our top story on KPBS Midday Edition, is it business as usual as President Donald Trump tweeted or the keeping of his campaign promise what he calls a crackdown on people living in the US illegally rounded up more than 400 people in the south, New York and Los Angeles since Friday. Immigrant rights activists say the rates have caused panic and immigrants across the country. Joining me is Pedro Rios, welcome to the program. And national reports about the immigration raids the city of Vista popped up as one of the locations of unusual enforcement at the -- activity. Have you heard of any kind of stepped up actions by immigration authorities here in San Diego County? No, we have not. That's interesting because we have seen a lot of sort of a flurry of information through social media. People reporting different rates are increased activity. We haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. The city of Vista was listed as a site. It's probably true that something happened in Vista but we don't have any information or particulars about what that might have looked like. This could come from a height -- heightened sense of concern among the community. What kind of effect of these rates having an people without documents who have been living here for years? The effect is twofold, there is certainly a lot of concern and fear. People are trying to make sense of it. They don't know what the increase enforcement might look like. If they are going to their job or the clinic and they get stopped, what it would mean for their family members. That is something they are concerned about. At the same time, there is an increased interest in knowing what the rights are and in her dissipating in immunity organized processes. It's good to see a counter affect has been community interest and what they can do about it to change it. President Trump's executive action did expand a group of immigrants considered a priority for deportation. Immigration and customs enforcement or ICE state those policies have not worked their way through to their department in the recent actions were routine. We also know the Obama administration was active in deporting people in the country illegally who had criminal records. Has something changed in these raids? I think there are some changes. We probably aren't able to detect them clearly, thus far. It is true under Obama we had deportations, he was named the Deport are in cheap because the record number of -- Deport are in chief because of his record number of deportations. The changes are in the people who are being detained. There are probably many more who are known as collateral arrests, if they went searching for an individual and found them and in the process found one or two other people that they were not searching for comment that did not have documents. They were apprehended as well and that would coincide with the new orders from the Trump administration. The collateral arrest has not happened for a while? It has not. It was a practice that we saw more evident under President Bush. To a lesser extent buzzer -- under President Obama. Nationwide there have been efforts to reduce the number of collateral arrests and stick to what -- those people at the criminal background. We know there are people who did not have a criminal background to arrested and it will be much more the case under the Trump administration. Last week in Arizona woman was deported when she showed up to scheduled check in with ICE. She had received a deportation order but was not considered a priority under the previous administration. What are you advising people who have these chickens with immigration authorities? At this point, it's important for those individuals to consult with an attorney. Someone who can assess whether it would make sense for them to comply with that order having to check in. They have to consider what it would mean if they are separated from their family. The case in Arizona, this woman who had been in the United States for 21 years will leave two children behind. That is something for people to consider, if they find themselves in that situation. Make an informed decision. How are these forums addressing people's concerns? On the one hand, they are dealing with the biggest obstacle which is the fear factor. It's important for people to know their rights and once they know their rights they have a better sense of knowing what to do in case they come into contact with immigration enforcement agents. Much more informed, they can then defend themselves by applying their rights. By not saying anything that could bring greater trouble to them, the idea is to build confidence with the communities and for immigrants. Once we have that confidence we can apply it in a daily practice. I've been speaking with Pedro Rios director of the American friends service committee in San Diego. Thank you.
Pastor Fred Morris looked out over his congregation Sunday as news ricocheted around the world that American authorities were rounding up immigrants in an enforcement surge that President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail.
Parishioners did not smile as on any other Sunday morning. They stared down at their feet. Others didn't attend at all.
"There is a dreadful sense of fear. It's more than palpable. It's radiating. People are terrified," said Morris, whose United Methodist mission is in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Los Angeles. "They were just sitting there in stunned silence."
For days, fear and confusion have gripped immigrant communities after word spread that federal agents were rounding up hundreds of immigrants in cities across the country. The scope of the operation remained unclear on Sunday.
Advocates and immigration lawyers scrambled to contain the panic and to organize seminars and social media campaigns to teach people their rights.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the efforts were "routine" and no different than the arrests carried out under former President Barack Obama that targeted those with criminal histories or multiple immigration violations.
But Trump took to Twitter to claim credit.
The crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise. Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2017
"The crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise," the president wrote. "Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!"
The raids included nearly 200 people in the Carolinas and Georgia, more than 150 in and around Los Angeles, and around 40 in New York, ICE confirmed. Among those arrested were a Salvadoran gang member and a Brazilian drug trafficker, officials said.
A decade ago, immigration officers searching for specific individuals would often arrest others encountered along the way, a practice that drew criticism from advocates. Under the Obama administration, agents focused more narrowly on specific individuals who posed a security or public safety threat.
Trump signed an executive order days after taking office that made clear that almost any immigrant living illegally in America could be targeted.
Immigrant-rights groups cite the case of Manuel Mosqueda, a 50-year-old house painter, as an example of how they believe ICE agents in the new administration are again going too far.
RELATED: Mexican Human Rights Officials Prepare For Possible Trump Policies
During last week's enforcement operation, ICE agents showed up at Mosqueda's home in the LA suburbs looking for someone else. While there, they inquired about Mosqueda, learned he was here illegally and put him on a bus to Mexico.
Karla Navarrete, a lawyer for the advocacy group CHIRLA, said she sought to stop Mosqueda from being placed on the bus and was told by ICE that things had changed. She said another lawyer filed federal court papers and got a judge to stop the deportation. The bus turned around, and Mosqueda is now jailed in Southern California, waiting to learn his fate.
In Virginia, agents who went to an apartment Thursday looking for a wanted man picked up everyone else in the apartment too, except for one women with a baby in her arms, said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, legal director for Legal Aid Justice Center's immigrant advocacy program in northern Virginia.
"Here's what happens on the ground: Somebody knocks on the door, they ask for a name, the people are very scared," said Tessie Borden, an advocate in Los Angeles. "Then they round everybody up and say 'We'll sort it out later.' But sorting it out later may mean separating families and breaking down support systems for these folks."
For supporters of Trump's immigration policies, the new and broader approach was welcome news.
"The main thing is to send the message that the immigration laws are actually being enforced again," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates for tighter controls on immigration.
Immigration advocates said many immigrants are now afraid to send their children to school and afraid to go to church or work or the hospital. Panicked rumors spread as quickly as the truth.
"Every time so much as a white guy with a clipboard is walking around, everyone runs into their apartments and locks the doors," Sandoval-Moshenberg said.
One case that sowed widespread fear was that of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a mother of two in Phoenix who pleaded guilty nearly a decade ago to a felony for using a false ID to get a job as a janitor. The government declined to deport her. On Wednesday, she showed up at the ICE building in Phoenix for a scheduled check-in with immigration officers and was deported to Mexico.
In Baltimore, another immigrant mother from Mexico said she's been afraid to let her children go outside after school. She's even considering giving up custody of her children, who are American citizens, in case she's deported. She said she feels powerless.
Adriana spoke to The Associated Press through a translator on the condition that her last name not be used because she is here illegally. She has lived in Baltimore for 12 years. She teaches Mexican art courses at a local nonprofit organization, babysits on the side and pays taxes.
At his Sunday service, Morris handed out a double-sided sheet listing congregants' civil rights: Don't open the door to anyone without a warrant. Don't talk. Don't sign any document.
He is planning a community meeting for Monday night.
He has another plan, too. He started organizing a phone chain. If he hears about a raid in his community, he will call five people, who will call five people and so on. They will all show up, stand on the sidewalk and chant: "ICE go home."
"The only weapon we have," he said, "is solidarity."
