“A Besieged City”: Barrio Obrero, the Dominican Heart of Puerto Rico, Is Torn Apart by Immigration Raids

What has been the latent heart of the Dominican community in Puerto Rico for years is now a city under stalking. At ten o’clock in the morning of one day in May, hot and idyllic, the streets of Barrio Obrero, located in San Juan, the capital of the U.S. territory, are almost empty. “Before, at this time the velloneras were heard,” laments Pastor Nilka Marrero, who has been serving immigrants from the area for more than a decade. She refers to th…

Since January 26, when the first immigration raid took place in Puerto Rico, the streets of San Juan have felt quieter and almost empty, as the immigrant population, mostly of Dominican origin, has confined themselves to their homes and sought to attract as little attention as possible to avoid being detained or deported. "We are sad because they are taking our people," said an immigrant of Dominican origin, when pressed by the El País journalis…

What has been the latent heart of the Dominican community in Puerto Rico for years is now a city under stalking. At ten o'clock in the morning of one day in May, hot and idyllic, the streets of Barrio Obrero, located in San Juan, the capital of the U.S. territory, is...

This Sunday, 31 people of undefined immigration status were arrested in a clandestine galley in San Juan, the ICE reported. The operation was carried out with the support of the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, and Diplomatic Security. “These individuals are going to be administratively prosecuted according to immigration processes,” the authorities said in written statements.