ICE Agents Appear In South Park, Try To Enter Building: Witnesses

SEATTLE, WA - Two immigrants rights groups are reporting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents attempted to enter an apartment building in Seattle's South Park neighborhood Thursday morning. According to witnesses, there were six agents, and one tried to enter the building but was turned away by a resident.

Victoria Mena, policy director for Colectiva Legal del Pueblo, said the agents were dressed in plainclothes, but some were wearing tactical vests with the ICE emblem. Mena said the agents tried to enter the building using a piece of paper signed by an ICE officer, not a judge.

"They call it collateral damage," Mena said, meaning ICE agents entering apartment buildings looking for one person find others along the way.

Asked about the incident, Seattle ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley said agents are "making criminal and administrative arrests every day in the course of carrying out their mission to uphold public safety."

"We don’t engage in indiscriminate sweeps or raids," she said.

The incident was enough for the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) to send out a statewide alert to its followers to be on the lookout for ICE activity. A person living at the South Park apartment building called the WAISN Raid Reporting Hotline around 9:30 a.m. to report what was going on.

That triggered a response from immigrants rights activists who went to the scene - near the corner of Cloverdale and 14th Avenue South - and began documenting the ICE agents' vehicles and attire. Mena said they left before Colectiva Legal del Pueblo's lawyers could make it there.

"Everybody needs to know their rights, they don't have to let ICE in without a warrant signed by a judge," Mena said. The group handed out fliers Thursday asking anyone who spots ICE activity to call the Raid Reporting Hotline.

Seattle Council members Lorena Gonzalez and Lisa Herbold released a joint statement condemning the activity. Herbold represents South Park on the Council, and both her and Gonzalez live nearby in West Seattle.

"What happened [Thursday] morning is a terrifying reminder that knowing your rights also means knowing what to do if I.C.E. shows up. Knowing what to look for or whom to turn to in the moment is vital to ensuring that legal processes are followed and, thus, preventing a catastrophic outcome," the statement said.

South Park is home to many Latino-owned businesses, and was also the target of anti-immigrant fliers last spring. The fliers asked locals to report illegal immigrants by calling the ICE hotline. The fliers were reportedly hung by local resident Will Skubi.

Photo: Suspects are interviewed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers after a raid in Santa Ana, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007.

Image via Mark Avery/Associated Press