In retort to Trump, woman drives immigrants for free

REDLAND — Maneuvering her gray SUV on dirt roads where rural South Florida meets the Everglades, Antonia Catalan looks for a man who’s in the country illegally.

She puts on her reading glasses and grabs a crumpled piece of paper with the address of a young man.

“Where are we heading? You are the boss,” says Catalan, 59. “I’m in no hurry.”

The Guatemalan passenger is one of a dozen workers Catalan drives for free. It’s her one-woman response to the fear spreading in migrant communities over President Donald Trump’s enforcement directives.

Around the U.S., many more ordinary people are volunteering to help people in the country illegally.

Hundreds of church members are signing up to create or support sanctuaries, hoping to protect immigrants from deportations inside houses of worship. Others are training to accompany immigrants to court or check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement where they could be detained and deported.

Immigration law experts say volunteering to help immigrants already in the country illegally is generally not against the law, but Trump has raised doubts by ordering up rules to penalize people who “facilitate their presence” in the U.S.

Conservative critics say these kinds of volunteers should be punished along with the immigrants they are helping.

Catalan’s ride-hailing service has grown as she tells neighbors and friends in her town of Redland that she’ll drive immigrants to supermarkets, money-transfer booths, package couriers and even the hospital.

She was born in Mexico, but unlike many of her neighbors, she’s a U.S. citizen with a driver’s license.

California, Illinois, Washington and Maryland are among the states that issue driver’s licenses to undocumented migrants, but not Florida.