Thread: Feds to Conduct Raids Targeting Undocumented Immigrants Who Entered US Recently

Feds to Conduct Raids Targeting Undocumented Immigrants Who Entered US Recently

• By JULIA JACOBO

May 12, 2016, 4:48 PM ET

U.S. Border Patrol agents detain undocumented immigrants after they crossed the border from Mexico into the United States , Aug. 7, 2015, in McAllen, Texas.

Federal authorities plan to begin a series of targeted raids to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants, ABC News has learned from a high-ranking government source not authorized to speak with the public.

The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will target undocumented immigrants who have entered the country within the last two years, have exhausted all asylum or personal danger appeals and have been ordered deported by a judge, according to the source.

The raids, expected to begin in upcoming weeks, will not be a general roundup of undocumented immigrants but will specifically target those who crossed the U.S. border recently, the source said. A surge of immigrants from Central America who came into the U.S. in 2014 to escape violent conditions in their home country would be included in this group.

ICE agents have been reminded of guidelines that prohibit raids or enforcement actions at schools, hospitals or courtrooms, the source said.

It is unclear whether undocumented minors would be exempt from these raids. Laws have been put in place to protect undocumented minors, such as the Flores Settlement Agreement of 1997, which says children can not be detained and are to be released to a guardian in the general population, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which says any unaccompanied minor or child entering from a non-contiguous country has to be allowed inside the United States and does not qualify for immediate removal.

In March, ICE announced an initiative called "Operation Border Guardian" in which it targeted undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. on or after Jan. 1, 2014, as minors but have since turned 18. Between Jan. 23 and March 9, ICE had taken 336 individuals into custody, it said in the announcement at the time.

ICE plans to release a statement later today, the government source said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/feds-conduc...ry?id=39075923

Thu May 12, 2016 2:42pm EDT
BY JULIA EDWARDS

U.S. immigration officials are planning a month-long series of raids in May and June to deport hundreds of Central American mothers and children found to have entered the country illegally, according to sources and an internal document seen by Reuters.

The operation would likely be the largest deportation sweep targeting immigrant families by the administration of President Barack Obama this year after a similar drive over two days in January that focused on Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina.

Those raids, which resulted in the detention of 121 people, mostly women and children, sparked an outcry from immigration advocates and criticism from some Democrats, including the party's presidential election frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has now told field offices nationwide to launch a 30-day "surge" of arrests focused on mothers and children who have already been told to leave the United States, the document seen by Reuters said. The operation would also cover minors who have entered the country without a guardian and since turned 18 years of age, the document said. Two sources confirmed the details of the plan.

The exact dates of the latest series of raids were not known and the details of the operation could change.

The operation in January marked a departure for ICE, part of the Department of Homeland Security, from one-off deportations to high-profile raids meant to deter migrants from coming to the United States.

An ICE spokeswoman said the agency does not "confirm or deny the existence of specific ongoing or future law enforcement actions." The spokeswoman said immigrants who arrived illegally after Jan. 1, 2014 are priorities for removal.

Federal resources were strained in 2014 under a wave of illegal migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, especially women and children fleeing violence in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

The planned new raids are in response to a renewed surge of illegal entries by Central American women traveling with their children.

From October 2015 through March 2016, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended more than 32,000 family "units", defined as mothers and children traveling together, for crossing illegally into the United States. Over the same period in 2014-2015, there were about 14,000 such apprehensions; in 2013-2014, about 19,800.

Graphic on immigration patterns of Central American migrants

Many of those apprehended for unlawful entry are put into deportation proceedings in court but do not show up for their scheduled appearance before a judge or ignore court orders to leave the country.

The surge in illegal border crossings has put Obama in a tough spot in a presidential election year in which he wants to see a fellow Democrat elected as his successor.

Obama has said criminal immigrants and those who have recently entered the country are priorities for deportation. He is regularly hammered by Republicans over the presence of more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

But Hispanic-Americans tend to vote for Democrats, who are more sympathetic to the plight of the undocumented.

Clinton raised concerns about the January raids at the time, saying they had "sown fear and division in immigrant communities."

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has pledged to build a wall along the Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told a U.S. Senate panel in March that the January raids had helped to deter Central Americans from migrating illegally. Border Patrol reported fewer illegal entries between January and March 2016 compared to October and December 2015, but there were more apprehended than over the same time period in early 2015.

A separate document seen by Reuters said Johnson was concerned about the most recent uptick in border crossings.

Immigration advocates say they have asked Johnson to abandon plans for future raids.

"Raids are not the answer," said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, a legal aide and advocacy group for migrants.

"This is a humanitarian challenge," she said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKCN0Y32J1

MAY 12, 2016 3:54 PM
Large immigration raids coming, report says


Targets will be women and children from Central America who have already been asked to leave, according to Reuters

Many apprehended by border police in do not appear for deportation court proceedings

These raids aim at those already in the US



Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are reportedly poised to conduct another campaign of widespread raids on Central Americans in the U.S. without authorization.Richard Drew AP file

BY TERESA WELSHtwelsh@mcclatchy.com

The Obama administration is planning to deport hundreds of mothers and children from Central America who are in the country illegally, Reuters reported Thursday.

Immigration officials will conduct raids in May and June, expected to be the largest such sweep so far this year. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to stage the raids over 30 days across the country. The exact dates are unknown, and sources told Reuters the plan’s details could change.

The campaign will target women and children who have already been identified by the government as being in the U.S. without authorization and have been asked to leave.

People who were minors at the time of entry to the U.S. but have since turned 18 will also be targeted.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has vowed to expel the estimated 11 million people in the country without documentation as well as force Mexico to pay for the construction of a border wall to prevent further crossings. Likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton condemned a swath of Obama administration raids earlier this year, which put 121 people in federal detention facilities.

During those raids in January, ICE agents focused on Georgia, North Carolina and Texas over a period of two days. The agency has not typically carried out such widespread, organized campaigns to detain people.

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said his agency conducted “concerted, nationwide enforcement operations to take into custody and return at a greater rate adults who entered this country illegally with children.”

“To effect removal, most families are first being transported to one of ICE’s family residential centers for temporary processing before being issued travel documents and boarding a return flight to their home countries,” Johnson said on Jan. 4.

Some were sent to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.

In a statement to Reuters, ICE did not confirm or deny the presence of the plan to conduct further raids starting this month.

The flow of migrants crossing into the U.S. from Central America has slowed since its highest levels in 2014. During the six-month period from October 2015 to March 2016, the Border Patrol took over 32,000 families into custody.

People who are detained by authorities for crossing illegally are given court dates for deportation proceedings, but court backlogs often cause delays of months or years. People frequently do not appear in court or disregard deportation orders.

The government hopes the additional high-profile raids will, like the January campaign, aid in deterring others from attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nat...e77242257.html

It's a pony dance!

They should of never been released into our communities in the first place.

http://www.alipac.us/f12/us-immigrat...milies-332442/

I guess 30 days out of 8 years is something. But hardly enough for a 2 term President.

They have already been "asked" to leave? How about not allowing them to step foot on our soil in the first place!

No detention...turn them right back around. No rights, no court, no judge, no lawsuit, no papers...no entry! We would not be in this mess!

They came through Mexico and they can go back through Mexico. Not our responsibility to fly them back.

Send the Cubans home too.

Feds open Texas border to 4,000 Cubans, security interview lasts just 1 hour before r

US Plans Immigration Raids to Deport Central Americans

Immigration officials plan sweeping raids in May and June