Thread: ICE Raids Bring Chill of Fear to IA's

ICE Raids Bring Chill of Fear to Illegal Immigrants
By: Andy Alcaraz and George Benitez
Posted: 10/15/08
On Dec. 1, 2007 at approximately 5:45 a.m., Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the home of a former Valley College student, detaining and eventually deporting his father.

Jonathan Hernandez, who attended Valley during the fall 2007 semester, and his family were awakened when ICE officers knocked on the door of their Pacoima home. They showed Hernandez a photograph and asked him if he recognized the individual.

"There were ten agents. They said they were the police," Hernandez said. "[ICE] was looking for someone who I'd never heard of before."

With Hernandez's consent, the officers entered the house and began their search. Once inside, they asked for identification from Hernandez, his father and stepmother. After completing their search, the officers took Hernandez's father, who had a previous deportation order, and his stepmother into custody.

"They [ICE] didn't tell me anything, other than they were taking my dad and stepmom to jail," stated Hernandez

His dad was eventually deported to Guatemala, while his stepmother voluntarily left the country after ICE issued a time frame for her departure.

"I didn't think they were going to take my dad," said Hernandez, who now lives in Los Angeles with his mother. "The only people [ICE] should take are criminals. My dad paid taxes. He volunteered in the community. He didn't do anything illegal."

ICE has been criticized for their procedures when dealing with illegal immigrants. Critics say that their door-to-door tactics have made immigrants believe they were speaking to law enforcement officials.

"We knock on the door, announce ourselves [and] come in if someone responds to questions of consent. We will ask for information from the residents," said Kice. "Is the 'target' inside the residence? If we locate other immigrants, we may take them into custody. If you come here illegally you are subject to arrest."

ICE has arrested approximately 3,247 undocumented immigrants in raids in the United States between late September and early October, according to statistics listed on their Web site. Approximately 1,587 of these arrests were made in California, including in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Sacramento counties.

The agency is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for eliminating vulnerabilities in the nation's border and other duties. It's budget is $5 billion a year, according to their website.

In ICE's 2007 fiscal year they arrested and brought to trial more than 300,000 undocumented immigrants in the United States, many of these cases calling for removal.

"Of those, 100,000 had criminal convictions," said Virginia Kice, a spokesperson for the government agency, citing a figure that equals one-third of the total amount of arrests.

According to Jorge-Mario Cabrera, director of community education and public affairs for the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Hernandez's account of ICE's actions are similar to those other undocumented immigrants and citizens have experienced.

"ICE seems to think they can easily fool the American people into believing the U.S. is honestly working on enforcing our country's broken immigration laws," CHIRLA's Executive Director Angelica Salas said in a news release. The question we should all ask is, can an unjust and inhuman law be enforced justly and humanely."

Undocumented immigrants however, are not the only ones dealing with the experiences of ICE. Some citizens are also going through much of these same encounters with the agency and its authorities.

"It sounded like they were going to knock down my door," said a 32-year-old Koreatown man, who wishes to remain anonymous.

When the man asked why they were there, the agents responded by showing the man a photograph and saying that they were looking for a suspected identity thief.

The agents then asked him if they could enter his apartment to search the place.

"I said yes, because I had nothing to hide," he said.

The officers then asked him and his wife about their legal status in the country, the amount of time they had been living at the residence, how long they had been in the country, and if they had their ID's and green cards.

After the ICE agents verified the couple's ID's, an officer asked them where they were from, their reply was Bangladesh. The couple then asked what their country of origin had to do with the search of the individual in the photograph and the agents said nothing; they left after 30 minutes of questioning.

"They didn't leave a business card or a number. I felt harassed," said the Koreatown man.

He did not know which law enforcement agency showed up at his home, so he called the Los Angeles Police Department, but they said that no officers were dispatched to his residence.

"They are misleading the public by making people think that they are local authorities, when in fact they are immigration officers," said Cabrera. "They are given more leeway with their procedures and in identifying themselves."

According to Salas, ICE's procedures continue to tear families apart.

"It makes me sad to remember it," said Hernandez. "You're with your family one day and the next you're not. There are no words for it."

http://www.lavalleystar.com/home/index. ... e8c6347262

"I didn't think they were going to take my dad," said Hernandez, who now lives in Los Angeles with his mother. "The only people [ICE] should take are criminals. My dad paid taxes. He volunteered in the community. He didn't do anything illegal."

Waaah waaaah blah blah. He had a prior deportation order.

Here comes the obvious clue, dear boy...both of them are ILLEGAL aliens! What do you mean he didn't do anything illegal?