Central American Consulates Cry Foul over Immigration Raids

by ILDEFONSO ORTIZ
4 Jan 2016

Central American consular officials are crying foul over the immigration raids aimed at deporting illegal aliens who entered the country during the recent immigration crisis and already have court issued deportation orders.

According to a statement by the Guatemalan Foreign Relations Ministry, on Saturday “two family units” in Atlanta Georgia were arrested by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Guatemalan officials claim that ICE agents entered the property “using lies” by asking for other individuals that were not in the house at the time of the raid.

Breitbart News previously reported on the expected raids that are supposed to target illegal aliens who entered the country during the recent immigration crisis and were subsequently released pending immigration court procedures. As time has passed, those individuals were then issued orders for deportation.

In response to the start of the immigration raids, the Guatemalan Foreign Relations Ministry issued a list of steps to follow for immigrants who are in the U.S. either legally or illegally and come across immigration officials.

According to the information released by the Guatemala government, immigration officials are only looking for family units, teens and children who entered the U.S. illegally in 2014 and 2015 and already have a final order of deportation.

Consular officials advise potential deportees, “Don’t be fooled … Immigration agents must show you an order signed by a judge in order to enter your home.” The consulate also advises them to keep handy the number of their immigration attorney and of relatives in case they are detained by immigration authorities. Initially when the immigration raids were announced last month, in another public statement, the Guatemalan government asked U.S. authorities to not carry out the raids.

In a similar statement, the Foreign Relations Ministry for El Salvador called out the raids since they were announced during the holiday season which were “announced during a time of family togetherness that our people celebrate.” El Salvador’s government claims that while they respect American law, the raids do not provide a full solution “which has been pushed back for years and it (the solution) is based on an integral immigration reform.”

Unlike the other governments the Foreign Relations Ministry of Honduras issued a statement claiming they respect the laws of the United States. The Honduran government also claimed to have been the only country in Central America to have addressed the number of unaccompanied minors illegally entering America. According to their statement, from 2014 to 2015, Honduras saw a 70% reduction in unaccompanied minors. As of press time, U.S. Immigration officials had not released official information about the raids.

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2016/...gration-raids/