Migrants stay home as people live in fear of Trump’s mass deportation threats
“You see on the news all the time undocumented, illegal, and you realise that’s you.
“There’s fear. It’s in your head, it’s stuck with you. Even when you get out there and you find someone staring at you, you’re concerned. Who are they? Did someone tell on me?”
Franklin is not his real name and he’s asked us to keep his identity secret. He is an African migrant fleeing political persecution in a country he doesn’t want us to name.
The abundance of caution shows how terrified he is that he might jeopardise his asylum application in this new Trump era by speaking with the media, but he wants his words to count.
“Maybe it will help, maybe it will help others”, he says. “They’ll know they’re not alone.”
President Trump has promised the biggest deportation in US history, with his new border czar, Tom Homan, saying he’ll target “the worst, first”.
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Franklin has not committed a crime, violent or otherwise. He should not have to worry. But he does.
“If you’re going door to door home by home, restaurant by restaurant, how are you discerning who is a hardened criminal and who’s not?”, asks Anuj Gupta, who runs The Welcoming Centre in Philadelphia, an NGO focused on economic growth through immigrant integration.
The Welcoming Center has created notes which clients can use to refuse co-operation with ICE amid fears of mass raids
“So there is the fear of getting swept up in that, irrespective of what your status is. That chilling effect is more impactful than whatever their potential policy or operationalisation of it may be. It also dampens everyone’s willingness to participate in day to day life.”
Africatown in South West Philadelphia is a hub for the African diaspora, some of whom have lived here for decades, many of whom are more recent arrivals.
Artwork in Africantown, Philadelphia
A mural in Philadelphia’s Africatown
It wears its heritage proudly, via colourful street murals and African flags along the main Woodland avenue which houses a cluster of shops and small businesses.
A new $23m (£18.56m) community centre, the Africa Centre is due to be completed next April. It is a case study in thriving immigrant entrepreneurship.
“A lot of people are scared right now to come out because of Trump’s threats, a lot of people who don’t have documents,” says Sullay, to explain the relatively empty streets.
ACANA (African Cultural Alliance of North America) in Philadelphia
It could be the chilling effect of potential ICE raids, the widely known acronym for federal immigration and customs enforcement. It could be the bitter cold, minus 12 in Philly on Thursday.
Amadou – not his real name – from Guinea is confident his asylum claim is in the works. He believes in the system. He proudly shows off his application on the Biden-era app which was supposed to provide a legal pathway to asylum, and the hearing he has scheduled for later in the year.
“I like Donald Trump,” Amadou says. “I think he is a good president. If he says America First, maybe that’s good.
“If my president said Guinea First, that would be good too. Maybe I would stay there.”
There are 161 people still missing in Texas in the aftermath of last weekend’s deadly flash floods, the state’s governor has said.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, governor Gregg Abbot said the number of missing had risen markedly.
He said among the missing were five children and one counsellor from Camp Mystic – where at least 27 people were killed in the flash flooding.
At least 109 people are confirmed to have died in the floods, which took place on the 4 July weekend, but this figure has been steadily climbing ever since.
People comforted each other in Kerville. Pic: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP
The bulk of deaths, and the main search for additional bodies, have been concentrated in Kerr County and the city of Kerrville.
The area was transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, unleashing deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River.
Travis County, Kendall County, Burnett County, Williamson County, and Tom Green County were also hit.
Mr Abbot said many of those who were unaccounted for were in the Texas Hill Country area, but had not registered at a camp or hotel, posing further challenges for authorities.
Camp Mystic
Mr Abbot planned to make another visit to Camp Mystic.
The century-old all-girls Christian summer camp was badly hit by the flash floods, with at least 27 campers and counsellors dying.
Hanna Lawrence, left, and Rebecca Lawrence, right. Pic: John Lawrence/AP
Lila Bonner (L) and Eloise Peck both died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout
Chloe Childress. Pic: Debra Alexander Photography via AP
Some of the victims include Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, both eight, Chloe Childress, 19, who was among the counsellors at Camp Mystic when the flood hit, and Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, both nine.
There were scenes of devastation at the camp as the flood water receded.
Outside the cabins where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered.
Also in the debris were pink, purple and light blue luggage, decorated with stickers.
A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
Camper’s belongings lie on the ground following flooding on the Guadalupe River, at Camp Mystic.
Pic: Reuters
‘Everything looked flooded and broken’
One of the campers, 10-year-old Lucy Kennedy, told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that she woke up to the sound of thunder at around midnight before the floods struck.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” she said. “I just had a feeling that something really bad was about to happen.”
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She said the girls at the camp were told to grab blankets, pillows and water bottles and line up single file as the floodwater rose, before getting airlifted to safety.
Wynne Kennedy, Lucy’s mother, added: “When I saw her, she was wrapped up in a blanket, had a teddy bear.
“We just held each other tight, and I held her all night.”
Their home in Kerrville was also destroyed by the flash floods.
Lucy Kennedy, 10 who was rescued from Camp Mystic, and her mother Wynne. Pic: NBC
Political row
Meanwhile, a political row has unfolded parallel to the recovery efforts, with some questioning whether local authorities sent out warnings and alerts early enough.
Similarly, Democrats have criticised Donald Trump over cuts his Elon Musk-launched Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has made to the National Weather Service – but it isn’t clear whether these actually made any difference.
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Wall of water
The flash floods erupted before daybreak on Friday, after massive amounts of rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to rise by eight metres in less than an hour.
The wall of water overwhelmed cabins, tents and trails along the river’s edge.
Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
Some of the campers had to swim out of their cabin windows to get to safety, while others clung to rope to make it to higher ground.
The date for Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sentencing hearing has been confirmed.
Following his high-profile trial, the hip-hop mogul was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution by jurors in Manhattan, New York, last week – but was cleared of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
Defence lawyers argued Combs, who has been in prison in Brooklyn since his arrest in September last year, should be bailed ahead of sentencing given the not guilty verdicts for the more serious charges, but Judge Arun Subramanian denied this – citing, among other things, the rapper’s own admissions of previous violent behaviour.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in court after the verdict was delivered. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy carried a potential life sentence. Combs still faces up to 20 years in prison for the prostitution-related offences, but is not expected to receive the maximum punishment.
After the verdict was delivered, the judge scheduled the sentencing hearing for 3 October. At a remote follow-up conference on Tuesday, with agreement from the defence and prosecution, the judge approved the date.
Combs joined the call but did not make any comment.
Any sentence will include credit for time already served – which will be just over a year by the time the hearing takes place.
During his trial, Combs was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura.
Jurors found the allegations did not amount to sex-trafficking or racketeering, or running a criminal enterprise – but they did find him guilty of transporting Cassie and another former girlfriend “Jane” for prostitution offences around the US, and paying male escorts to engage in sexual encounters.
Despite the guilty verdict on those charges, the 55-year-old’s team described it as “the victory of all victories”.
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In an interview over the weekend, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Combs had received a standing ovation from fellow inmates when he returned to jail after being acquitted of the more serious charges.
“They all said, ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government’,” he said.
Ahead of sentencing, Combs’s lawyers will file their recommendations by 19 September, with prosecutors likely to follow a week later.
Prosecutors previously said the rapper could face about four to five years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while the defence has suggested a two-year sentence.
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