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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Fear spreads in L.A. after immigration ‘raid,’ advocates claim. Officials say arrests are ‘routine.” Protesters blocked an onramp to the 101 freeway in Los Angeles Feb. 9, objecting to what they claim is a rise in immigration raids. (The Washington Post) The panicked emails and phone calls began streaming in from community members at about 11 a.m. Thursday morning, inundating Los Angeles immigration lawyers with far more cases than usual. Immigrant advocate groups claim that more than 100 people had been taken into custody by federal immigration officials in Southern California Thursday, indicating a “coordinated sweep” in arrests and heightening fears that Donald Trump’s promise to crackdown on deportations had begun to take effect. Police and immigration officials denied the “raids” and disputed the claim that the arrests were part of a more stringent approach, saying any detentions were simply part of “routine” enforcement activities. But a flurry of calls regarding arrests spurred immigration attorneys into rapid response efforts, and prompted protests on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. “We know the daily patterns of people being picked up and taken,” Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, or CHIRLA, said in an interview with The Washington Post. “There’s a natural flow of enforcement that happens every day. But this was not normal.” According to Salas, the “raids” were taking place in Van Nuys, San Bernardino, Downey, Santa Paula and Oxnard. Immigration attorneys went to the downtown Los Angeles detention and removal facility Thursday afternoon and saw five white vans and one bus filled with people leave the premises. When an attorney asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement for information about clients who were detained, an ICE officer said more information was needed to identify the individuals, because more than 100 people were currently detained in the facility, Salas said. Usually only one or two people are detained in the center on a given day, Salas added. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California tweeted “URGENT: ICE conducted multiple raids of homes across the city.” But a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that the arrests were part of the agency’s “routine” enforcement activities. “Our operations are targeted and lead driven, prioritizing individuals who pose a risk to our communities. Examples would include known street gang members, child sex offenders, and deportable foreign nationals with significant drug trafficking convictions,” the statement said. “To that end, ICE’s routine immigration enforcement actions are ongoing and we make arrests every day.” This stance appeared to parallel practices under the Obama administration, which prioritized the deportation of people who were violent convicted offenders considered a threat to the public. Trump’s executive order on Jan. 25 vowed to cast a wider net and include any undocumented immigrants who had been convicted of a criminal offense. Salas said immigration attorneys heard of multiple examples of people detained Thursday who were not violent offenders. One man wasn’t even convicted of a crime, and another individual had simply received a speeding ticket, Salas said. [What Trump could learn from George Washington’s first executive order] Many law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department have promised not to take part in the mass deportations Trump has called for. Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Bob Green told the Los Angeles Times Thursday that the department knew of no ICE sweeps going on in the San Fernando Valley. “There is information that is out there that is wrong,” he said, adding that his department would not participate in any federal immigration raids. “We are working hard with the immigrant communities to dispel fears.” The Pomona Police Department released a statement warning community members of an “immigration checkpoint hoax” that had been circulating on social media claiming that officers had joined immigration officials conducting immigration checkpoints. “We want our community to know that The Pomona Police Department is not participating in any immigration checkpoints nor are we aware of any such checkpoints scheduled in the City of Pomona,” the department said in the release. “We encourage the community to always fact check to avoid “fake news”. Poster Comment: Downtown Protesters Claim ICE Sweeps Of Immigrants Are Spiking http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/02/09/downtown-protesters-claim-ice-sweeps- of-immigrants-are-spiking/ Mexican Citizen Sentenced To 8 Years In Prison For Voter Fraud In TX http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2017/02/09/grand-prairie-woman-sentenced-to-8-years-in- prison-for-voter-fraud/ ICE AGENT HOSPITALIZED AFTER ASSAULT BY ‘CRIMINAL ALIEN’ http://www.infowars.com/ice-agent-injured-while-attempting-to-arrest-criminal- alien/ Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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