Immigration Sweeps In Southern California: ICE Rounds Up Residents At Their Homes

The raids triggered backlash, with protesters blocking a Los Angeles Street on-ramp to the Hollywood (101) Freeway in downtown Los Angeles Thursday night. There are no immediate reports of any arrests.

According to the activists, people were rounded up in Van Nuys, Downey and San Bernardino County. Those targeted were immigrants with deportation orders, but family members or other undocumented immigrants present in the home during the sweep were also taken, according to a spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. The Obama administration considered such residents low priority for deportation.

For an immigrant community on edge under the new Trump administration, the raids raise concerns that a wider swath of people beyond those with criminal records will be targeted for deportation. Confusion and conflicting statements surrounding the raids prompted state lawmakers to call for an explanation from customs officials.

“It is important that the Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency publicly address the nature of these raids,” State Sen. Tony Mendoza said in a written release. “We need urgent clarification from ICE on how many people were detained, if any have serious medical conditions, if they have had access to adequate legal counsel or if local law enforcement participated in these raids.”

A spokeswoman for the ICE would not confirm any specific operation. Immigration raids are daily occurrences, added ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley, downplaying concerns that the raids reflect a Trump administration crackdown.

“This is business as usual on steroids,” countered Jorge-Mario Cabrera Director of Communications the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “For someone to tell us this is normal is an understatement.”

Typically the coalition sees three to five people detained in deportation order sweeps each week, but never 100 people in a single day, said Cabrera. People with deportation orders don’t necessarily have criminal records. Most are people who applied for refugee status or asylum but were denied their application and remained the country anyway, said Cabrera. Many are unaware they’d been denied legal status, he added.

Officials with the coalition sent out statements alerting the media to ICE raids being carried out in at least five locations, saying that up to 100 immigrants had been detained and taken to ICE offices in downtown Los Angeles.

The organization and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California planned to gather for a 5 p.m. vigil at the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown in response to the actions.

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However, the ICE officers "conduct enforcement actions every day around the country and here in Southern California as part of the agency's ongoing efforts to uphold public safety and border security," countered Haley. "Our operations are targeted and lead-driven, prioritizing individuals who pose a risk to our communities," Haley said. "To that end, ICE's routine immigration enforcement actions are ongoing."

Most of the immigrants are being held in the downtown Los Angeles processing center. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights is advising immigrants to obtain legal counsel, and the coalition will be holding “Know Your Rights” informative sessions throughout the day Friday in Los Angeles.

Info on the ice raids that happened in LA today! pic.twitter.com/Ud62RhstH5
— Olivia(@WeasleyMala) February 10, 2017

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City News Service contributed to this report.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain