‘You name it, this place is run by immigrants': In Nantucket, fears of an economic chilling effect after ICE sting
It's fair to assume, some locals say, that some in that crowd are immigrants, a population that represents a linchpin of the island's economy, and one that has become increasingly fearful under President Trump's dramatic push to arrest and deport more immigrants.
It's a reality that was brought
The chilling effect of the arrests on aspects of local business was immediate, some say, as people are fearful to go to work.
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'It's a really hard time,' said Eduardo Calles, a 46-year-old who grew up in
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Calles, who does tile work and painting and acts as a pastor for Iglesia de Jesucristo Principe de Paz Nantucket, found it ironic that in a land known for freedom, people don't feel free to leave their homes.
In a place renowned as a favorite vacation spot for the well-heeled, immigrants contribute in an array of industries, locals say, from landscaping to restaurant work to construction and the building trades to hotel and inn hospitality to public sector work for the town.
Pedestrians walked in town on the island.
Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
Their influence can be seen in ways large and small. There is a Caribbean lilt to some baristas'
accents. There is a taxi driver from the Balkans who works the graveyard shift, hustling for a better life. A Bulgarian school, a food mart that offers traditional Central American fare, a weekly Mass in Spanish at a Roman Catholic church in the heart of Nantucket's downtown district.
'Everyone's freaked out,' he said. 'It's crazy.'
Antonik, a Cape Cod native, said he could not do his job if it weren't for immigrants, who he estimated make up about 80 percent of his workforce.
The chilling effect from the arrests, he said, is 'slowing us down for sure.'
'We're navigating through it,' he said.
People detained by US Immigration and Customs walked to the US Coast Guard coastal patrol boat Hammerhead in Nantucket Harbor May 27.
Peter Sutters/Nantucket Current
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'Your vacation is made possible by immigrants,' he said. 'Immigrants . . . who serve your food, make your beds, mow the lawns.'
He added, 'You name it, this place is run by immigrants.'
Even whispers of immigration actions can have a significant impact on everyday lives, said Cyr. He recalled how earlier this year there was a rumor of ICE enforcement on the Vineyard, followed by a huge spike in absenteeism among public school students.
The vast majority of immigrants locally, Cyr said, are here through work-sponsored programs or have green cards or other kinds of immigration status.
'But they have someone or know someone in their family who may not,' he said. Immigrants not showing up to work in the aftermath of the ICE arrests, Cyr said, is understandable.
Indeed, there was an undercurrent of fear and paranoia in Nantucket this week. The Nantucket Food Pantry posted a message in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to social media saying that if people are not comfortable going to the pantry themselves, 'send a friend or trusted neighbor — we'll welcome them with open arms.'
Superintendent Elizabeth Hallett also shared a message with public school families, saying the district 'welcomes all children, no matter what their immigration status, and we want [you] to know that your children will be safe in our classrooms and schools.'
Attached to that mass email was a letter Hallett had sent out earlier this year in three different languages that outlines how the district will handle ICE requests.
'If an ICE agent seeks access to a student at school, school staff have been directed not to permit the agent to enter the building but instead to send the agent to the Central Office,' reads the letter.
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Matt Fee, 65, serves on the Nantucket Select Board and has run Something Natural, a bakery and sandwich shop, for about 40 years.
He does not hire undocumented workers, he said. But locally, even people who have legal status are nervous, according to Fee.
'It's having an impact,' he said. 'If people self-deport or are deported or choose not to come here, the island will have a difficult time servicing at the level people expect.'
Danny McDonald can be reached at
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