From New York to Los Angeles: ICE launched large-scale raids against illegal immigrants

Immigration authorities began to conduct large-scale raids against illegal immigrants. As a senior US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) officer told 14 in July, the operation will cover 2000 illegal immigrants who are subject to deportation by court order.

Photo: video frame CNN

Raids that will focus on newly arrived immigrants should take place in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco, an immigration officer said CNN. New Orleans was on the list, but after a powerful tropical storm, Barry caused damage to the region last weekend, the operation was postponed here.

As of July 14, there were no confirmed reports of migrants being detained in Baltimore, Chicago or New York, the rights of immigrant groups in these cities told CNN.

“For the most part, everything is quiet,” said Kara Yee, spokeswoman for the Illinois Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. “We sent rapid response teams to meet with people who reported ICE activity through our hotline.” So far the arrests have not been confirmed.”

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Yi said that most of the reports concerned the discovery of government vehicles, but it later became known that this was not ICE.

The American Civil Liberties Union in New York tweeted that it received "some reports of the appearance of ICE at subway stations, but not a single case has been confirmed."

Photo: video frame YouTube / CityNews Toronto

Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, disputes the claim that undocumented immigrants are the target of the raids.

“These are not undocumented immigrants. They have a court order on paper - a federal order that says they went through due process. There are over a million people with deportation orders, which is what ICE wants,” he told CNN.

Cuccinelli said ICE would not comment on the details of the raids, adding that the priority is apprehending violent criminals and those with aggravated felonies. He said ICE agents do not “use” illegal border crossing charges as grounds for arrest in raids.

When asked whether children and parents would be separated, Cucinelli replied that this was operational information. But he added that the families are among the million people facing deportation.

Photo: video frame CNN

Immigrants are preparing for the worst

News of the raids frightened many illegal immigrants. People stocked up on food and planned to stay in their homes with the lights turned off and the blinds down. Some did not go to work. Someone is placing inside the houses signs with recommendations on what to do in case of the emergence of ICE agents. Not knowing where to turn, they call the hotlines en masse.

In some cities, local governments and human rights organizations provided assistance to immigrants. In Chicago, flyers were posted with the heading “Know your rights,” and in Atlanta, in a popular shopping center, Latinos were handed out notices with the inscription “ICE free zone.”

It is also recommended to request from all authorities a signed order for entry into the premises from the authorities, noting that it is a constitutional right, including immigrants.

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In Texas and New York, lawyers and city hall officials inform people about their legal rights and offer city resources that are available in case of contact with an immigration officer.

“In the face of callous raids that tear families apart, we remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting and protecting immigrant communities,” New York City Mayor's Office Commissioner Bitta Mostofi said in a statement.

Photo: video frame CNN

Cuccinelli described the raids as a regular ICE job and pointed out statistics showing that ICE deported fewer people under President Trump than under Obama.

“This is their daily job. ICE is made up of compassionate, loyal agents who are just doing their jobs,” he said.

Why raids suffered

According to a senior immigration officer, ICE planned to arrest and deport families at the end of June, but Trump postponed the raids to give Congress time to "work out a solution" regarding problems related to asylum and a loophole in the country's immigration policy.

Mark Morgan, acting US customs and border control commissioner (he was then acting director of the ICE), said that the raids were postponed due to leaks of operations details.

“No one wants the target to know you're coming. You need the element of surprise—that protects you,” he said. “That’s why such things are not announced.”

On the subject: The authorities of major US cities promise to protect illegal immigrants from immigration raids

Photo: video frame CNN

Although Trump repeatedly tweeted about the upcoming operation, it did not jeopardize the safety of officers, since the situation in June was different from the current one, said Cuccinelli. According to him, the published level of detail of the operation was much higher than that which the president said.

In February, ICE sent around 2000 letters to families who had already received absentee deportation orders, asking them to file a report to the ICE office by March.

Despite reports of overcrowding in some places of detention along the southern border, Cuccinelli said that ICE officers were preparing for raids.

“ICE plans these things beautifully,” he said.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement statistics, 2018 people were deported in fiscal year 256 (085 in 2017).

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