No raids, many rumors: In Nebraska immigrant communities, fear and lack of ICE info fuel fake news

Nebraska immigration detentions appear to be up slightly. But advocates for immigrants and law enforcement officials alike say the rumors are far outpacing the reality.

The Facebook post was straightforward: “ICE and other federal agents are doing sweeps and raids in Schuyler, Nebraska TODAY,” a Columbus-based law firm posted Jan. 27.

Within hours, the post amassed more than 700 shares. It sparked news articles and press releases.

“People were panicking,” said Nina Lanuza, a Center for Rural Affairs organizer who lives in Schuyler. “Over 80% of our population is nonwhite. That’s something that will always put us as a target.”

Lanuza got in her car and drove around the northeast Nebraska town of 6,528, scoping the streets for evidence of a raid.

She found no government vehicles. No people in handcuffs. No buses waiting to haul people to detention centers. Nothing.

Days later, a Nebraska media outlet reported 110 people had been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Schuyler. The article credited a single, anonymous source.

ICE officers had been in the area, the Schuyler Police Department confirmed in interviews.

But they hadn’t arrested 110 people, Sgt. Ryan Andel told the Flatwater Free Press.

They’d arrested one.

“You hear about it, but did you see it?” Lanuza said. “It’s not that I don’t trust what you’re saying, but it’s really easy to spread fake news.”

Nearly a month into the second Donald Trump presidency, Nebraska immigration crackdown specifics are hard to come by.

Immigration arrests nationwide have ticked up. And in Nebraska, the few county jails that hold detainees for ICE reported seeing an increase in the number of people being detained. But most of those detainees have criminal records and have been targeted individually, they said.

So far, there have been no documented raids in Nebraska.

But the uncertainty here, paired with the lack of information, has allowed chaos and misinformation to thrive online.

Posts in Facebook groups and WhatsApp chats chronicle rumored ICE sightings in communities like Schuyler, Lexington, Fremont, Omaha and Lincoln – frantically typed out with siren emojis and all-caps warnings to avoid certain streets and businesses.

Nebraska immigration advocates and law enforcement officers alike report a much different, more nuanced, reality. ICE presence and arrests in Nebraska have increased, they say.

But so far, the federal agents have been targeting specific people, mainly those with criminal records – some already sitting in county jails.

Shrouding the process in mystery, and making it hard to access information about local ICE arrests, is intentional, said Anna Deal, legal director with the Omaha-based Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement.

“Part of what the administration knows will help them accomplish their objective … is to freak people out and make people feel unsafe, so that they choose to leave,” Deal said. “Repeating rumors, repeating sightings, to some extent, does that work for them. It keeps fear circulating.”

“Let them wonder”

Hours before Trump was even inaugurated, the texts and phone calls started coming.

“My phone started blowing up with rumored ICE enforcement,” Deal said.

In early February, the White House reported more than 8,000 arrests stemming from immigration enforcement actions since Jan. 20. ICE averaged 787 arrests daily from Jan. 23 to Jan. 31, more than double the daily average of 311 arrests during former President Joe Biden’s last year in office. The Obama administration averaged 636 daily arrests in 2013.

But ICE doesn’t release detailed local numbers. The ICE field office in Grand Island directs questions to national hotlines. Advocates at CIRA and other nonprofits find themselves calling local law enforcement to try and confirm rumors. “Right now, they’re super scared, because they’re seeing Chicago and New York footage,” said Juan Carlos Garcia, a board member for Omaha Welcomes the Stranger, a shelter for asylum-seeking families.

A raid at a car wash in Philadelphia ended with seven arrests. There have been reports of collateral arrests in Texas – people who just happened to be present when targeted individuals were arrested by ICE. The week after the inauguration, NBC News reported that 100 agents were fanning out across Chicago, looking for people with criminal convictions.

The fear helps the misinformation thrive, said Garcia, who also works as director of Hispanic outreach for the Missionary Society of St. Columban.

Before Trump’s reelection, Facebook groups geared toward Omaha Latinos were mostly filled with posts about events, job openings and food sales, Garcia said.

“It was more community building,” he said. “When he won, they were all conspiracy theories. And then after he came in until now, it’s all ICE.”

A few days after the inauguration, his Facebook and WhatsApp feeds were filled with posts about a rumored ICE presence on South 24th Street, in the heart of Omaha’s Latino community.

He called the police to try and confirm. It wasn’t ICE, they told him. It was Omaha police responding to a call about a person found dead.

Garcia now finds himself constantly monitoring Facebook posts. He flags and hides fake news posts in the local Spanish Facebook group he runs. He hops into the comments in other Facebook groups, calling out what isn’t true, telling people to take down false or unverified  information.

It’s even worse on chat platforms like Messenger and WhatsApp, where it’s harder to moderate and report misinformation.

“That’s where the fake news is rampant,” Garcia said. “It’s exploding.”

Story by Natalia Alamdari
FFP’s Joshua Shimkus contributed reporting to this story.