One afternoon in September, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a house in Brentwood, New York, leaving three young children separated from their parents. By the time Linda Obernauer arrived at the scene, the families living in the house had been arrested and taken away. All that remained were their belongings, strewn about the house, broken zip-ties used to cuff the residents — and three young children, whose parents had just been taken.
“They zip-tied the [children] and left them on the side of the street, up against their car,” Linda said, about ICE’s warrantless raid. The children, ages five, nine, and eleven, were taken in by an acquaintance in the neighborhood, when their parents were arrested. Some 48 hours after the raid, their mother returned from the ICE facilities, while their father was deported to El Salvador. “They are now experiencing toxic trauma, post-traumatic stress, and they have all kinds of residuals from that incident,” Linda added.
Linda describes herself as a therapist in her professional life and a social justice worker in her volunteer life, working with organizations like the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), where she supports families and individuals impacted by ICE raids. “I never really crossover between the two realms,” she said, referring to her psychology practice and her volunteer work. “Because, then, I wouldn’t want to do the social justice work or the therapy work.” However, after the raid in Brentwood, Linda recognized the emotional toll it had taken on the children, who had endured a raid, seen their parents arrested, and were subsequently separated from them. So she made an exception to her own rule.
“On a weekly basis, I go and I see them, and I talk to them,” she said. “Sometimes, I just sit there and we’re quiet, and sometimes we talk about what might be bothering them.” Lately, the children have said they are afraid of going to school because they fear coming home and not knowing where their mother might be. Linda has been providing them with coping skills to redirect their feelings of anxiety and fear, often using toys and play time to help them process their emotions.
Since 2016, Linda has been involved in immigration-related community organizing. She is part of the “Adopt-A-Corner” initiative at NDLON, where members volunteer to watch heavily-targeted areas or neighborhoods, in order to intervene, document, and support immigrants in the event of an ICE raid. Typically these are street corners where day laborers, who are predominantly immigrants, wait for their daily work assignments and pick-ups.
Every morning, Linda visits her assigned area, near a local 7-Eleven. A few months ago, there were two raids on that corner, and nine people were arrested. Linda noticed that a white bicycle had been left behind, unclaimed for three days. After inquiring with other day laborers, she learned that it belonged to a man who had been arrested by ICE, and she tracked down the man’s family, in order to return the bicycle.
Today, Linda continues to drive by her corner, support the family in Brentwood, and volunteer with local coalitions. “I’m a person of faith, and I believe deeply that this is what we’re called to do,” she said. “We are called to walk with our brothers and sisters, and to stand with people who are in pain, to help them through it in any way we can.”
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