Hillsboro teen: May ‘regret’ speaking out on ICE raids

HILLSBORO, Ore. (KOIN) — Manny Chavez told KOIN 6 News he wasn’t planning on speaking at the Tuesday meeting. Initially, the 16-year-old high school junior went to support two of his friends from his soccer team whose relatives had been detained by ICE agents.

But after hearing their testimony, he felt compelled to speak. What followed was Chavez pleading with the city councilors to support his community.

He said his mom has her own small business and pays taxes, but he fears for his entire family.

“I’m scared for my parents to walk out there, to walk out of their house. Because I might not be able to say goodbye to them if they go to work,” Chavez testified. “I might not ever be able to say bye or see them again. If you guys are on the side with those — and I’m scared because of it, because they fought so hard to come here and choose a life for their kids.”

Then he added, “I’m scared that everyone that I love is not, and I’m not going to be able to see them again, because even though it that they’re US citizens, they don’t care about us. They treat us like dogs. They treat us like animals.”

Since then, his words have spread around the country much greater than he expected.

“Surprisingly it got big and a lot of people contacted me saying they are proud of what I did, how I spoke up, and that it was brave of me to do,” Chavez told KOIN 6 News.

“I was just worried about everyone afterwards because ICE is just going for whoever they want at this point, even if they’re citizens, they’re going for whoever fits the brown description,” Chavez told KOIN 6 News. “Sounds like maybe I should have not put my face out there. Maybe I regret getting so big, because now I’m a target or something like that.”

Watch Manny’s full Hillsboro City Council testimony in the video below:

He said he wants the Hillsboro police to help, “more on the immigrant side.”

“I want Manny to know and I want everybody to know that if we could banish ICE like that, we would,” Hillsboro Mayor Beach Pace said. “If an ICE agent and a Hillsboro police officer come into contact, whatever the ICE agent is doing, they take precedence.”

Pace said she was moved by the teen’s testimony and added the city has been designating money to support Latino organizations and businesses. The Hillsboro police, the mayor said. can be a resource.

“If a family member or anyone sees somebody that’s in the process of being detained by ICE, they can call 911,”the mayor said. “Hillsboro police will arrive and they can verify. They can ask to verify identification of the ICE agents.”

Manny Chavez, who is a high school junior, wants more for himself and his community.

“I really do want something to change,” he said Tuesday night, “because I should not live like this as a 16-year-old. I shouldn’t be scared. I should be focusing on school when I can’t focus on school.”

During the month of October, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained more than 300 people in the state, according to the Innovation Law Lab.

Chavez, a high school junior, is now using his newfound fame to try to raise money for his community impacted by ICE through a GoFundMe account that has raised nearly $15,000 as of Saturday evening.