ICE Raids Likely to Target Indigenous Immigrants From Central America

ICE Raids Likely to Target Indigenous Immigrants From Central America

By Mel Abad (staff@latinpost.com)
First Posted: Jan 13, 2016 06:14 AM EST

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WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 30: Immigrant families and their supporters rally in protest against the Obama Administration's plans to target undocumented immigrant families in a series of raids early next year in front of the White House December 30, 2015 in Washington, DC. Citing their need to flee violence in their home countries in Central America, the protesters, organized by immigraiton advocacy group CASA, demanded that undocumented immigrants should be given refugee status. The Washington Post reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is 'preparing for a series of raids that would target for deportation hundreds of families who have flocked to the United States since the start of last year.'
(Photo : Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The number of indigenous people from Central America migrating illegally to the U.S. is rising. Now, advocacy groups are spreading awareness among these indigenous people on how they can avoid the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from raiding their homes.

According to Latino Rebels, the ICE sees immigrants from Central America as an easy target because of their low literacy level and their inability to speak any language other than their Mayan dialect. Currently, the surge on the number of immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador and the Honduras speaks largely on the crisis of undocumented immigrants.

Women and children, as well as unaccompanied minors, arrived in the U.S. bearing different reasons why they came. Service agencies and non-profit organizations are their only stronghold amidst the strict implementation of immigration policies.

PBS News Hour reports that the increasing number of immigrants coming to the U.S. will also take its toll on the current campaign propaganda of those who are opposed to these undocumented immigrants. The numbers are also expected to increase as February approaches.

The cry for concern among these illegal immigrants came from reports of them being detained after a surprise ICE raid during wee hours in the morning. Either these people are detained or they face the grueling and stressful process of getting deported.

Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California said, "Having people afraid to open their doors to strangers and not going to work is not a healthy development."

Lofgren said that while she is concerned about the growing number of undocumented immigrants entering the U.S., she believes that these people deserve respect.

She also mentioned that many of these immigrants fled their own countries because of violence, and it should not be repeated again.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest defended the administration's immigration policies. He said that the act of deporting immigrants only happen after they have exhausted all legal efforts to retain them.

"Our desire to make clear that individuals should not embark on the dangerous journey from Central America to the Southwest border, that's the case we've tried to tell all along," Earnest explained.

Adelina Nicholls, executive director of Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, questions this motive, saying that people are confused and don't understand what is happening. She adds that they are definitely not happy with Obama.

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Immigrant families and their supporters need to go back to where ever they came from and rally in protest against there own government.

You were not invited here, you crossed the border and remain in the U.S. illegally and you are not welcomed or wanted here..... go home!

ICE Removes 77 People After Targeted Sweeps of Families in the U.S. Illegally

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed 77 people who were in the U.S. illegally as part of a sweep that took place over New Year's weekend that targeted families who had crossed in at the southwest American border.

As part of the removal effort, migrants were put on repatriation flights that took place between Jan. 5-7, from San Antonio, Texas, to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.

"These enforcement actions targeted adults and their children who were subject to final orders of removal, who had an opportunity to present their claims to an immigration judge," said an ICE spokesperson in a statement today.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson announced last week that 121 undocumented individuals were taken into custody as part of a targeted effort to deport families that were apprehended after May 1, 2014.

In the spring and summer of 2014 the number of families and unaccompanied children from Central America crossing illegally into the U.S. spiked. Apprehensions dropped down, but have risen again in the last few months.

Government officials have expressed concern over the rising numbers.

"Our borders are not open to illegal migration; if you come here illegally, we will send you back consistent with our laws and values," Johnson said in a statement when he announced the results of the sweeps.

Since the summer of 2014 ICE has been removing migrants to Central America at an increased rate, averaging about fourteen flights a week. However, most of those returns had been single adults, according to DHS.

Credit: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Johnson issued new immigration priorities in November 2014, but the targeted ICE operations to remove families was a recent development.

"This should come as no surprise. I have said publicly for months that individuals who constitute enforcement priorities, including families and unaccompanied children, will be removed," Johnson said.

The nation-wide sweeps targeted adults and their children that were subject to final orders of removal, not people who had pending appeals before an immigration court, according to ICE.

The removal of families has caused outrage among many Democrats on Capitol Hill. A letter to President Obama demanding an end to immigration home raids has now received more than 130 signatures, members said this afternoon.

"It's not what America means to us or to the world,” House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said of the removals during a press conference today.

ICE Removes 77 People After Targeted Sweeps of Families in the U.S. Illegally