CITY OF NEWBURGH – As the FBI raided residences in Newburgh last week to cap an investigation into cocaine sales, city officials began receiving phone calls and Facebook and text messages from frightened Latinos.

One video caused a lot of “commotion” as it spread, Councilwoman Karen Mejia said. Someone who taped law enforcement arresting a drug suspect was heard referring to the officers as “ICE,” the initials for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“It was terrifying for some of our community members,” Mejia said. “I had heads of households very concerned and afraid to walk out of their doors. Those calls are heartbreaking.”

Mejia is asking her colleagues on the Council to take a step that other cities, including Kingston, have taken in response to the election of President Donald Trump, whose administration is moving to increase the scale and pace of deportations for undocumented immigrants.

The resolution, which the Council will discuss at its work session on Thursday, broadly declares that Newburgh’s police department and government will not help enforce federal immigration law or help with deportations.

Mass deportations could have a wide-ranging impact in Newburgh, where half the population is Latino.

“A lot of folks confused that (drug raid) with an immigration raid,” Mejia said. “And that, for me, sparked that we needed to have the conversation just to let the community know about where we stand.”

On Monday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly issued a memorandum detailing how an executive order on illegal immigration that Trump signed last month will be implemented.

While the Obama administration’s deportation policy focused on undocumented immigrants who commit serious crimes, Kelly directs DHS personnel to prioritize undocumented immigrants convicted of or charged with any crime, or who have committed public benefits fraud.

He also directed ICE to hire 10,000 agents and officers and to expand a program that gives local police agencies the power to enforce immigration law.

Acting Newburgh police Chief Dan Cameron said his department only assists ICE when requested, and that those requests usually involve cases involving human trafficking or deported felons who have returned to the country.

Newburgh does not ask criminal suspects or crime victims about their immigration status, he said.

Councilwoman Cindy Holmes was in Georgia during last week’s drug raids. Two residents of her ward called, asking if she knew about the ICE raids. They were considering keeping their businesses closed that day and keeping their children home from school, Holmes said.

“I have a lot of constituents in Ward 4 who are Latino and they don’t want to be harassed in any way,” she said.

lsparks@th-record.com