Until a few months ago, the Germantown-based nonprofit Upcounty Hub would manage to serve roughly 200 families during its Saturday food distribution at a Gaithersburg church, according to Executive Director Marko Rivera-Oven.
Now, the number of families who line up each week has dwindled to around 50, he told Bethesda Today recently.
The decrease doesn’t appear to reflect a decline in need. In fact, data shows that food insecurity is on the rise in Montgomery County, and a 32% increase of homelessness was documented in a recent report.
Instead, Rivera-Oven said immigrants are now scared to visit the food pantry for fear of potential interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Residents call us and request home delivery because they don’t feel safe to come into the doors because they feel that ICE could just drive up and start asking questions, which is 100% true,” Rivera-Oven said. “I mean, they could, because it’s a public facility.”
An executive order issued by the Trump administration in January rescinded 2021 guidance from the Biden administration that created protected spaces including areas “where children gather, disaster or emergency relief sites, and social services establishments,” according to The Associated Press. This order caused concern among Montgomery County officials, educators and nonprofits about access to and distribution of essential services now that ICE could raid most entities.
Montgomery County’s policy is to not inquire “about anyone’s immigration status, nor does the county conduct any immigration enforcement or investigations,” according to the website for the county’s public information office.
Jason Cokinos, commander of the county police department’s Third District, reiterated the policy during an April 7 virtual press briefing, noting the department would not participate in immigration enforcement efforts in the county.
“Montgomery County police [are] not going to a scene demanding immigration status paperwork, or asking people what their status is,” Cokinos said.
Still, the fear persists among those in need, according to local food bank operators.
The Upcounty Hub isn’t the only local food distributor that has witnessed a decrease in the number of people seeking assistance at local distribution sites. Hughes United Methodist Church on Georgia Avenue in Wheaton, which operates multiple popular food distribution events each week, is hearing concerns from its immigrant clients, according to the Rev. Diana Wingeier-Rayo. The number of people coming to its Tuesday morning distribution has decreased, though the church still hears from community members seeking food assistance. The church’s Wednesday distribution aimed at older residents has seen an increase in clients.
“It’s a fact. People are afraid,” Wingeier-Rayo said.
The Trump effect
The Associated Press reported in 2017 that during President Donald Trump’s first administration, food pantry visits dropped across the country amid deportation threats. Following recent accidental deportations of some legal residents, some food pantry leaders said even documented immigrants are nervous about seeking food assistance.
“When you’re starting to see folks who are nonviolent offenders become deported, those things will continue to have a more chilling effect on the people we serve,” said Craig Rice, executive director of Manna Food Center, a food bank based in Silver Spring and Gaithersburg. Manna serves more than 60,000 clients per year and distributes more than 4 million pounds of food annually, according to its annual report.
Chris Yonushonis, deputy director of Montgomery County hunger relief for the North Bethesda-based So What Else food pantry, told Bethesda Today that hoax threats of ICE raids at the nonprofit’s food distribution events have caused chaos and confusion for clients and staff.
“These kinds of rumors really do a lot of damage,” Yonushonis said. “We’re lucky we haven’t seen much more of that, but social media can spread things quickly.”
Montgomery County has been in the federal spotlight in recent weeks. The county received criticism from ICE last month after the department detained a Gaithersburg resident who was an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador and convicted felon. ICE alleges that multiple detainer requests were sent to the county, while county officials say the error was due to clerical issues and not policy.
On Thursday, the county was listed as a sanctuary jurisdiction by the Trump administration. The list did not compel the jurisdictions to take any specific actions or list a specific consequence, but an April executive order signed by Trump threatened to pull federal funding from so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
County Executive Marc Elrich (D) defended the county’s immigration policies, saying that the county is following Trump’s executive orders regarding cooperation with ICE.
Over the weekend, the list of sanctuary jurisdictions was removed from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website following criticism from sheriffs and law enforcement officials across the country.
Providing reassurances, alternatives
With the ever-present threat of a raid, clients continue to be fearful of appearing at food distribution events located in public facilities, according to those involved with local food banks.
Upcounty Hub has experienced this struggle, according to Rivera-Oven, since the nonprofit’s offices are in the county’s Upcounty Regional Services building in Germantown. While the organization is not a government entity, it does have a contract with the county government to provide resources to the community.
“We are adamant with our clients; we tell them that [their information] is protected and that it won’t be given to ICE if they come into our building and start demanding all of our data,” Rivera-Oven said.
So far, So What Else hasn’t seen a noticeable decrease in its clientele, but Yonushonis noted that may be because the food pantry is not connected to a government building or associated with the county government.
For the Upcounty Hub, Rivera-Oven home visits have been one way to recenter efforts to serve its clientele; another way is holding food distributions at public schools that clients’ children attend.
Hughes United Methodist Church now brings small groups of clients at staggered times into the food pantry to avoid the long, visible lines that previously formed outside the building. Wingeier-Rayo said she also makes sure to connect and have personal conversations with new visitors to the pantry as well as with clients who voice concerns.
She said clients often say they are concerned about providing personal information, which is required or the church to report its numbers to organizations that provide its funding and food.
“If I see new faces, I go in and I talk to them, and I say ‘Do not be afraid to provide the data. Trust me. We use this just for us to get this certain amount of food to be able to distribute it to feed all of you,’” Wingeier-Rayo said. “So they trust me, I guess.”
Manna clients have expressed similar hesitancy about providing information, according to Rice.
“People are nervous about putting in information, or express concern or have questions about where that information is going,” Rice said. “I think that there may be some that are more hesitant than others to give information. Because it is so urgent of a need, folks are willing to take that chance to give the information so that they can receive the food.”
Manna and Upcounty Hub have also partnered with organizations such as CASA, a Silver Spring-based immigrant rights organization, to host “know your rights” informational sessions and provide pamphlets to clients.
“We have been vigilant about putting in ‘Know Your Rights’ cards in all of our boxes. All of our distribution sites have them as well, so that folks know,” Rice said. “I think to some extent, that has helped to allay some of the fears. However, I am still concerned.”
Wingeier-Rayo said that regardless of immigration status, the U.S.is facing a crisis when it comes to food insecurity — and Montgomery County is no exception.
“Democracy is in jeopardy, and America pretends to be one of the richest countries in the world, while behind the big flag, with all the stars, we have people starving,” Wingeier-Rayo said. “It is antagonistic that we pretend to be so rich, fighting for the richest of the rich, while we have a lot of poor people in the area that need to be taken care of.”
This story is the first in a two-part series on how local food banks are being impacted by federal policy changes.
