A H A R D I N G U N I V E R S I T Y S T U D E N T P U B L I C AT I O N
March 7, 2025 Vol. 100, No. 10 @HUStudentPubs Facebook: Harding University Student Publications
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Searcy, Ark., 72149
ICE arrest, detain 17 in Searcy Detained individuals were moved to Louisiana in preparation for deportation with the US
attorney’s office claiming all arrested ‘had some type of prior contact with law enforcement’ MAGGIE SAMPLES editor-in-chief U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested and detained 17 people in Searcy and the surrounding communities on Feb. 24, as confirmed by Lt. Scott Seiders of the White County Sheriff ’s Office. The arrests were the result of a collaboration between the federal agency and local law enforcement, including the Central Arkansas Drug Taskforce. Those arrested have since been transferred to an ICE detention facility. Searcy resident and Harding alumna Andrea O’Connell said Oscar Muniz-Rios, a friend of hers, was pulled over while driving his son to school and arrested. “He got pulled over in one of the traffic stops that happened on Moore Street [Monday],” O’Connell said. “Because he doesn’t have a valid American driver’s license, so they arrested him and for 24 or 48 hours his family couldn’t figure out where he was, but they did find out that he was taken to a detention facility in Louisiana, waiting to be deported.”
At the time of the traffic stop, the mother of Muniz-Rios’ son, Brandy Elliott, was out of state and was unable to pick up her son, O’Connell said. “When [the authorities] got a hold of her, they were like ‘We’re just going to have him wait in the car until you get here,’ and I don’t think that’s what happened, but there was the threat of that at the time,” O’Connell said. Muniz-Rios has been employed at Los Tucanes in Kensett for over 20 years, according to O’Connell. Muniz-Rios has one child
with his ex-wife Elliott and has served as a father figure to her two other children. The family went to Louisiana over the weekend to tell him goodbye. The U.S. attorney’s office in Little Rock said in a press release Feb. 27 that those arrested “had some type of prior contact with law enforcement.” O’Connell said that MunizRios does not have a criminal background. “I don’t know about the criminal background of all the others, but I know for sure at least one did not have a criminal background,” O’Connell said. Immigration attorney and Harding alumnus Guillermo Hernandez heard about the arrests after a friend called him about a missing friend. “He basically told me that they couldn’t find him, that he’s never late to work, he never misses work, that they couldn’t find him, and his phone was going directly to voicemail,” Hernandez said. “He also told me that there were some rumors about immigration authorities picking people up around Searcy.” Hernandez is on the board at El Puente,
a group that offers classes and programs attempting to bridge the gap for the Spanishspeaking community in Searcy. He was also contacted by other people with missing family members through the organization. Hernandez said that around 3 or 4 in the afternoon on Feb. 24, families started receiving phone calls from their missing family members. “They started calling their families and they informed us that they were detained at
the immigration detention facility in Little Rock,” Hernandez said. Hernandez said that although the authorities said they were only looking for people related to criminal activities, but some that were stopped and detained were not involved in criminal activities. “Of course, there were other people that were coming out in the morning, they were just going to work, kind of like my friends and clients, and they were stopped,” Hernandez said. “Even though they didn’t have any relationship to criminal activity, they couldn’t prove that they were legally in this country, so they were still picked up.” Hernandez said the arrests will affect families and communities. “Those 17 that they picked up in Searcy, obviously I don’t know all of them, but I seriously doubt that all 17 were related to the criminal investigation,” Hernandez said. “I know for a fact some of these kids that were in school that day, they went back home and they no longer found their dad.” Hernandez encouraged the Christian community to be understanding of those who had been detained. “They’re trying to make a better life for themselves or for their families,” Hernandez said. “They’re not criminals. I understand that they came into the country illegally, and I am by no means advocating for illegal immigration, but the fact is that these people are already here, and they are hard workers, and they ’re not hurting anybody.” Executive director and co-founder of El Puente Ruth Simpson said the Hispanic community of Searcy has been “greatly shaken.”
“Whether a person is here legally or not, many are terrified,” Simpson said. “Children have noticed an uptick in bullying at school and many adults are afraid to leave their homes even to go to the store, church or to work.” Simpson said that the community is fortifying themselves and taking action to protect their children, many of whom are American citizens. “In order to prepare for the worst, families are signing guardianship rights to other people for their children and power of attorney for their belongings,” Simpson said. “It is recommended that those who have children born in the U.S. make sure the children have passports in case their parents are deported.” Simpson said that the idea that all illegal immigrants are drug dealers or sex traffickers is incorrect, with the majority of immigrants being hardworking and contributing to their communities in good ways. “In regards to immigration, people say, ‘just do it the right way,’ but they do not understand that we have made that process nearly impossible because it takes 10-20 years and thousands of dollars,” Simpson said. “In my experience, there are many resilient, kind, generous people who do not come here to get ‘free handouts’ from us, but rather contribute to our communities by working hard and being good neighbors.” Graphics by BEN EVANS
Students react to United States’ support of Russia HELEN STRICKLAND opinions editor
On Monday, Feb 24, the United States (under President Donald Trump) expressed support for Russia by voting against a European resolution encouraging a solution for Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly. The act came as a stark contrast to the Biden Administration’s staunch support of Ukraine since its invasion by Russia on Feb 24, 2022 — exactly three years before the United States changed its backings. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump met on Feb 28 to discuss Ukrainian mineral trade with the U.S., and this ended in a heated exchange, though President Zelenskyy retroactively expressed hope for a strengthened alliance with the United States. Students around Harding’s campus have had a variety of reactions to these recent developments. Sophomore history major Josie Smith shared her thoughts on the U.S. announcement about the war (prior to President Zelenskyy and President Trump’s Feb. 28 meeting). “When I found out that we had backed Russia instead of Ukraine, I was shocked,” Smith said. “I think that being on the same side as Russia and North Korea makes the U.S. look bad and frankly ridiculous.” Senior Lauren Service is from Canada, and she shared her perspective — prior to President Zelenskyy and President Trump’s meeting — as an international student living in the U.S. According to Service, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced that Canada will send armored vehicles and financial aid to Ukraine. “To be involved with two countries that are currently playing two different roles in this war is a conflicting point of view,” Service said. “Although I’m not an American citizen, I still have a want to be involved with what the U.S. is doing. A governing land can’t exist without a form of security for it, and I feel
that a larger role played in a conflict such as this could put one’s own country at risk.” Students also spoke about their predictions regarding the international implications of the U.S. decision to back Russia. Smith emphasized its controversial impact on other nations. “Siding with [Russia and North Korea] pits us against pretty much everyone else,” Smith said. “It also leaves our allies in Europe scrambling and doubting if they can count on the US anymore.” Junior Max De L oach shared his opinions on the matter, condemning the U.S.’s unwillingness to hold Russia morally accountable. “Of course, the United States and Russia must co-exist in the world,” De Loach said. “In order to do so, it is necessary to maintain a somewhat cordial relationship with them. But our inability to condemn such blatant murder, coupled with our occasional inclination to spread misinformation about the beginning of the conflict that would evoke Russian sympathies, is beyond the call for diplomacy. The United States must stand against aggression, foreign or domestic.” Junior Camille Bewley expressed some guarded optimism regarding positive U.S. relations with Russia, but she also relayed her concerns. “Although I’m not entirely against the idea of participating in a mutually beneficial relationship with Russia and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, which we sort of already have through NATO, the country has consistently been a threat to peace and liberty, two major American values,” Bewley said. Harding School of Theology student Malachi Brown was critical of President Trump. “I think that the developments between the U.S. and Ukraine [are] very consistent with who Trump has proved himself to be,” Brown said. “...One of the last lines in the televised negotiation [between President Zelenskyy and
President Trump] was Trump saying, ‘This will make great television,’ and I think he and [Vice President] J.D. Vance have forgotten that the lives of Eastern Europeans are of much more worth to us than what money we can squeeze out from them.” Bewley’s reaction involved acknowledgements that a strengthened U.S. relationship with Russia could have various implications. “We need to be wary for sure, but I’m not opposed to discussion on the topic simply due to wide national security concerns,” Bewley said. De Loach expressed his hopes for the future of these international tensions. “Zelensky is not a perfect man, Trump is not either, and no one is arguing for Putin’s perfection,” De Loach said. “Honestly, I am inclined to believe that each of them are bad men. But in spite of that, we must be able to distinguish the aggressor and the one who is the subject of aggression. We must not leverage our international hegemony against a nation at war, against the lives of their own citizens, in order to gain rights to their minerals. I pray, and I suggest that every profiteering warmonger in Washington and Moscow prays this same prayer, that we may discover an exceedingly large needle and a surprisingly small camel in the immediate future. I think they’re gonna need it.”
Graphic by MATTHEW KIPTOO