This is an adapted excerpt from the July 19 episode of “Connect with Jacob Soboroff.”
Across the country, we are seeing Stephen Miller’s American dream play out in real time. Every day, immigrants are living in fear, worried that their loved ones could be the next targets of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This is happening even in the seemingly quiet places, like Gallatin County, Montana. In late June, there were multiple reports detailing that ICE carried out operations across Bozeman and the Gallatin Gateway. The local police confirmed the agency’s presence, with the Gallatin County sheriff stating, “ICE is carrying out its mission.”
The Daily Montanan reported that, on one day, “ICE agents arrived at approximately 5 a.m., as workers from several construction and masonry companies were boarding buses bound for the Yellowstone Club worksite.” A chaotic scene then unfolded, according to witnesses, as agents chased, tackled and handcuffed the workers.
If the Yellowstone Club sounds familiar to you, that’s because we’ve talked about it on “Connect” before. It’s the same private club and resort for the ultrawealthy that, as Floodlight reported, orchestrated a controversial land swap that gave it near-exclusive access to formerly public lands. It’s also the same community where Interior Secretary Doug Burgum owns a $22 million condo. (The Yellowstone Club did not respond to requests for comment by the Daily Montanan about the immigration raid.)
Meanwhile, local business owners and community organizers told the Montana Free Press that many Latino residents have just stopped leaving their homes entirely out of fear that they will be arrested.
But then people did what people do best: They started showing up for one another.
Jose Monroy, who owns a contracting company, said he started picking up his own employees, some of whom he acknowledged are not in the country legally, so they wouldn’t have to drive to their job sites.
“The tables have turned so quickly, they’re like, ‘Where do we go now?’” the owner said. “They’re in constant fear of what’s going to happen.”
The community started to organize and collected anything their neighbors might need, everything from groceries to toilet paper. A local group said it was able to help out nearly 160 households across Gallatin County.
One volunteer even told the Montana Free Press that she planned to purchase water-soluble paper from a craft store to write addresses on in case immigration agents stopped people while they were en route.
So while Miller may have his vision of the American dream, the people of Gallatin County are showing another one: neighbors refusing to back down and showing up for one another.
Allison Detzel contributed.
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