ICE nets illegal immigrants in wave of raids for deportation

More than 120 people who are in the United States illegally were arrested over the weekend by federal authorities and face immediate deportation as part of a renewed crackdown on illegal immigration, Homeland Security officials said Monday.

Johnson said most were placed in family detention centers in Texas to await deportation.

Ryan Campbell, communications director for the DRM Action Coalition, which advocates for Dreamers, or illegal immigrants brought to the U.S.as children, said Mrs. Clinton’s tepid response to the raids follows her initial reaction to the Central American surge in 2014, when she said they should be deported as quickly as possible – a sentiment that didn’t go over well with immigration-minded voters.

Johnson said that extra precautions were taken, “given the sensitive nature of taking into custody and removing families with children”, including deploying female agents and medical personnel.

Republicans have been eager to blast President Obama for what they say is a misguided complacency with immigrants in the country illegally, following on the aggressive promises of front-runner Donald Trump.

One of the churches considering opening its doors is Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix, which previously offered sanctuary to Guatamalan Eleazar Misheal Perez Cabrera for 110 days after a judge issued a deportation order. Attorneys are appealing to a Justice Department immigration appeals board for the 12, who had been slated for immediate deportation. But immigration agents are showing up at the homes of targeted people without warrants and demand entrance, the Times said. The agency usually exercises discretion on a case-by-case basis, considering a family’s individual circumstance, length of time in this country and ties to the community, Homeland Security officials said.

“I have said publicly for months that individuals who constitute enforcement priorities, including families and unaccompanied children, will be removed”, he said.

“It’s beyond shameful that these families, who risked everything to seek protection in the United States, were being forcibly returned to the violence and turmoil they fled in Central America”, said Katie Shepherd, the managing attorney of a pro bono family detention project, in a statement this morning. Most Latinos here have Mexican roots, with a smaller share from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, among other Latin American countries. In the past, the Obama administration has preferred to have local law enforcement detain illegal immigrants when and where they happen to find them, according to Vox.

The Department of Homeland Security has said the immigrants targeted in the raids had exhausted their legal remedies before being apprehended.

The Salvadoran Embassy in Washington D.C. set up a hotline for those affected by the raids.

A man is detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), agents early on October 14, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

The feds plan to continue to expand a messaging campaign to convince families to stay in their home countries, illustrating the “dangerous realities of the journey” while “highlighting the recent enforcement operations”, Johnson said. They are among dozens of congregations nationwide mobilizing to either to open their doors to Central Americans or offer their support, he said.

“As I have said repeatedly, our borders are not open to illegal migration; if you come here illegally, we will send you back consistent with our laws and values”, he said. “If a person has a choice between living in fear and violence and even a temporary moment of safety in the US, they’re going to pick safety”, said Ali Noorani, the executive director of the National Immigration Forum. “It confounds me”, Sharry said. Gutierrez said she fears for her niece’s life should she be deported to Honduras.