Immigrants wait in fear after raids; Trump takes credit
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marlene Mosqueda, left, who’s father was arrested by ICE agents early Friday morning to be deported, talks at a news conference with her Attorney Karla Navarrette at The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
Pastor Fred Morris looked out over his congregation Sunday as news ricocheted around the world that American authorities were rounding up immigrants in an enforcement surge that President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail.
Parishioners did not smile as on any other Sunday morning. Their eyes darted around the room. They stared down at their feet. Others didn’t attend at all.
“There is a dreadful sense of fear. It’s more than palpable. It’s radiating. People are terrified,” said Morris, whose United Methodist mission is in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Los Angeles. “They were just sitting there in stunned silence.”
For days, fear and confusion have gripped immigrant communities across the nation after word spread that federal agents were rounding up hundreds of immigrants in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, New York, California, Illinois and Texas. The scope of the operation remained unclear on Sunday.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the efforts were “routine” and no different than the targeted arrests carried out under former President Barack Obama.
But Trump took to Twitter to claim credit.
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“The crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise,” he wrote early Sunday. “Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!”
On the Sunday morning talk shows, the president’s representatives said the enforcement was a result of Trump’s policies.
White House policy adviser Stephen Miller told “Fox News Sunday” that the administration had “taken new and greater steps to remove criminal aliens” who pose a threat to public safety.
Among those arrested were a Salvadoran gang member wanted in his home country and a Brazilian drug trafficker, officials said.
Nearly 200 people were arrested in the Carolinas and Georgia. More than 150 more were rounded up in and around Los Angeles, and around 40 were arrested in New York City and surrounding areas, ICE confirmed.
A decade ago, immigration officers searching for specific individuals would often arrest others encountered along the way, a practice that drew criticism from advocates. Under the Obama administration, agents focused more narrowly on specific individuals. ICE now appears to be reverting back to old policies.
Immigrant rights groups cite the case of Manuel Mosqueda, a 50-year-old house painter, as an example of how they believe ICE agents in the new administration are going too far.
During last week’s enforcement operation, ICE agents showed up at Mosqueda’s home looking for someone else. While there, they inquired about Mosqueda, learned he was here illegally and put him on a bus to Mexico.
Karla Navarrete, a lawyer for the advocacy group CHIRLA, said she sought to stop Mosqueda from being placed on the bus and was told by ICE that things had changed. She said another lawyer filed federal court papers and got a judge to stop the deportation. The bus turned around, and Mosqueda is now jailed in Southern California, waiting to learn his fate.
Agents who went to a Virginia apartment Thursday looking for a wanted man picked up everyone else in the apartment too, except for one women with a baby in her arms, said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, legal director for Legal Aid Justice Center’s immigrant advocacy program in northern Virginia.
For supporters of Trump’s immigration policies, the new and broader approach was welcome news.
“The main thing is to send the message that the immigration laws are actually being enforced again. That in itself is an important message that’s got to be sent,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates for tighter controls on immigration.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said the agency is simply enforcing federal law.
But immigration advocates said many immigrants are afraid to send their children to school and afraid to go to church or work or the hospital.
Panicked rumors spread as quickly as the truth.
“Every time so much as a white guy with a clipboard is walking around, everyone runs into their apartments and locks the doors,” he said.
One case that sowed widespread fear was that of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a mother of two in Phoenix who was arrested nearly a decade ago for using a false ID to get a job as a janitor. She pleaded guilty to a felony charge, but the government declined to deport her. On Wednesday, she showed up at the ICE building in Phoenix for a scheduled check-in with immigration officers and was deported to Mexico.
Advocates and immigration attorney across the country scrambled to hold seminars and conference calls teaching people their rights.
At his Sunday morning service, Morris handed out a double-sided sheet listing congregants’ civil rights. The first read “don’t open your door.” He is planning a community meeting for Monday night with lawyers, immigration advocates and consuls from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala.
He has another plan, too. He started organizing a phone chain. If he hears about a raid on a home in his community, he will call five people, who will call five people and so on. They will all show up, stand on the sidewalk and chant: “ICE go home.” He hopes “public shaming” will prove to be a deterrent.
“The only weapon we have is solidarity,” he said. “They are deporting people who may be undocumented, but they do have rights under our laws.”
76 responses to “Immigrants wait in fear after raids; Trump takes credit”
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“She pleaded guilty to a felony charge, but the government declined to deport her. ”
That’s not quite true. She appealed her deportation order and lost.
“She became the subject of a removal order in 2013 and was placed court-ordered supervision, which required her to report on a provided schedule to an ICE office until her order of removal was “affected,” or acted on.”
“(Her) immigration case underwent review at multiple levels of the immigration court system, including the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the judges held she did not have a legal basis to remain in the US,” ICE said in a statement.”
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/09/us/arizona-guadalupe-garcia-de-rayos-protests/
“The main thing is to send the message that the immigration laws are actually being enforced again. That in itself is an important message that’s got to be sent,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates for tighter controls on immigration.
Come legally, then no “fear” right? Whats the big deal?
Immigrants who are here illegally are criminals! Send them back from where they came from. They do not belong in the United States!
Think about it. How many overstayed their visa’s? Why did they not obey the visa Laws whatever it may be as their visa’s have time constraints of sorts otherwise what’s the use of issuing visa’s? They also broke da Law of the Land that all we citizens adhere to and succumbs to a penalty for breaking a law/rule. Why should “illegal” migrants get a free pass? INSANITY!
The inner cities should be rejoicing! I hope they are willing to work as there’ll be more job openings, there may be more subsistence available not having to support “illegals”, maybe less street drugs, maybe rounding up the “illegal” alien drug dealer and shipping em out of your neighborhood, etc.. I only see positives for the American Citizens in every city. Americans First! Globalization is destroying our Country
Grrhh!! stop calling these lawbreakers ‘immigrants’ . They have criminally invaded us and should consider themselves lucky to only be deported instead of being put into forced labor for punishment of their law breaking.
For a country founded on immigration of the poor to find the American dream, this has become a nation founded on unease. Yes, let’s get rid of the law-breakers but let’s do it all in proper channels. US citizens should not have to be put in unease of their family’s status as immigrants. Yes, we should take action on illegal immigrants but we need to have compassion for the weary and those whose families are separated. Yes, they should go through the proper channels themselves. But to do so in such a way as those days of the Gestapo is simply not right and un-American. What do we choose to be as a nation? Shall we repeat what the Nazis did to the Jews? Is that what we have become as a nation?
If you are not a criminal then there is absolutely no reason to be at unease. If anyone is at unease they are either ignorant or breaking the current law. Allowing illegal immigrants to stay is absolutely UNFAIR to the people on waiting lists for gaining legal entry. I have absolutely no sympathy for those trying to cheat others out of their turn in line.
Yeah, but didn’t you read the article? The sad people stared down at their feet! That alone should be reason enough for the United States government (That you and I fund) to let everyone break the law. There is no reason for anybody in America feeling uncomfortable!
If they and their family are legally here, they don’t need to feel uncomfortable.
Up until the mid 1800s in N America, Spaniards would sent out seek and destroy teams to hunt down “illegals”. Never mind that such “illegals” were French and English nationals living in their own independent societies hundreds of miles away from any Spanish settlement. The only reason the people hunt ended was because the Spanish empire was dying out, not because of a change of thinking.
ummm, okay I’ll give you “illegal” migrants a word of caution. STAY AWAY from “illegal” migrants that’ve done crime. If they are on a criminal list, just stay away and don’t get caught being at the place at the wrong time with your criminal Countryman. Simple enough, I don’t think the Gov. are checking id’s if your just walking down the street so… .
ummm,if your an illegal migrant stay away, don’t associate with illegal criminal aliens. Don’t get caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. Why am I’m tryin to give “illegal” migrants good advice is beyond me, lol.
Just a reminder, the nazi’s sent to Jews to their deaths in concentration camps. That is quite different than simply deporting someone who is the USA illegally.
If they are illegal the it makes no difference if they have citizen relatives. No citizens or legal immigrants are being rounded up. Grow up
It was done through proper channels. The USA has been more than fair to this woman. She was subject to deportation in 2013 after her felony conviction in 2009… and she appealed. She’s lucky she was given that opportunity. She went through multiple reviews and “…the judges held she did not have a legal basis to remain in the US,”…”
This is not about separating families, it’s about upholding the law. If it was, her illegal husband would have been deported with her.
Are you tone deaf and dumb, this “illegal woman has been separated from her husband and her two daughters. You are one of the many un America cruel aND heartless people in this country. Your cruelty will come back to you and your family someday.
Illegal says it all. I guess you are just dumb.
They do not have to be separated. He husband and two daughters can join her. Nothing wrong with that.
Vectum, Now you want to be the judge of character when someone else wants to uphold the law? May your hypocrisy and cruelty with words come back to you and your family.
Vector> You should change your name to “VENOM.” You say so much zero stuff you must really sleep good at night. You really believe all the BS that you say. If your answer is YES. Hereafter, I will totally ignore all of your posts. ZERO is what I get from reading your BS. Aloha!!!
Take her husband and her kids back with her! One big happy family’s!
The USA was created by English immigrants. It wasn’t until 250 years later that they allowed other Europeans in. The USA wasn’t a UN created entity where in 1600 each society in the world sent 10 of their own kind to create a new country. 10 Samoans, 10 Greeks, 10 Filipinos, 10 Guatemalans….
10 portagees were asked to clean the UN bathrooms. One sponge one brush, one cleaner, 50 toilets. The smartest one said…..
they need to hire 140 more pochos? (one item per pocho x3 x50)- 10 = 140
Don’t call everyone who wants to live by our laws a Nazi.
I don’t think anyone is arguing that we are/aren’t a nation of immigrants. I don’t think that was ever a debate; however, there are proper channels in coming to the US. My parents did it the legal way: they left siblings, their parents, relatives, friends…everything behind just to start anew. Currently, the waiting list just to enter our country is 18 months to 33 years. It is paved with hardships and yes separation, but despite that, there are tens of thousands in line with an American dream. You cannot and must not circumvent this process. It is in placed so that a country is financially able to assist with its mew legal immigrants. Currently, illegal immigration is costing us over $113 billion a year. I understand where you are coming from, but simply allowing people here in a free for all will only create more hardships, not only for the immigrants themselves, but also it’s citizens. Economically, we cannot sustain this. There are reasons for such laws. Those that come here using the legal channels understand this fully well.
Gestapo? your hallucinating, not even close as our Gov. enforces the Law of immigration. Illegal = illegal, they “illegal” migrants family or not should have come to America “LEGALLY”. We are a Land of Laws and we can change those laws, what don’t you understand. I have sympathy for families that my be seperated but REALLY it’s not the Gov.’s fault these illegal migrants took a chance and broke our immigration laws. NO Free Pass on Sympathy, you broke da Law.
HPD does not give me a Free Pass if getting caught speeding
I’d get a speeding ticket unless the HPD trooper …
“Shall we repeat what the Nazis did to the Jews”
Rubbish.
The analogy would be for the persecuted in the middle east, the Jews and the Christians and the minority religions like the Yazidi.
When Trump mentions helping these people, all the usual name calling starts, from people in this country who apparently want to persecute them also, by proxy.
These truly persecuted are the people that were being ignored, not the Muslims who are war refugees from wars that they have been fighting amongst themselves since the 6th century
Donald Trump is enforcing existing immigration law? Who does he think he is, the president or something? And I guess AP forgot to distinguish between immigrants and illegal immigrants in the headline. So far as I know ICE is not “rounding up” citizens and permanent residents. This story should be held up as an example to all of us why Trump’s populist message resonated so well with American voters. He promised to get a handle on illegal immigration and he is following through.
Yea! Someone that has a clue.
Immigration reform is past due. Got to start somewhere. Why not with enforcement. And lets start to go after family members of mass murderers that knew.`One thing is for sure. Immigration attorneys are making a killing of this.
Absolutely right on. SA does not want anyone to tell the truth and call these illegals law breakers. They are not victims as portrayed by
the controlled drive by media.
What have we become as a nation? Have we forgotten the Gestapo in which a nation operated on fear and vindictiveness? Our country was founded on immigration. From the Irish to the Chinese to the Filipinos to the Koreans to the Vietnamese to the Mexicans. We all came here to seek out the American dream. It has now turned into a nightmare. What do we choose to be become as a nation? One that is divided and seek to separate families all in the name of despotic ruler?
What kind of question is that? How about this question- What kind of country do we want to be, one that follows laws, or one that doesn’t follow laws.
To your question…We are a nation of Laws…and it shall apply to EVERYONE! Including the POTUS.
Right, we just got too use to looking the other way. Ignoring laws, all laws. Guys next to my office, CPB, are cranking it’s up, no more weight lifting . They were told that is why they were spared the Federal freeze, law enforcement, enforce the law.
Because Hawaiian is flying to Kona, they put back a office on the Big Island….. lots of illegals there doing non union work. They are also thinking about posting more agents on Maui, illegals there too, lots from Philippines on Maui and Molokai.
We are a nation trying to survive in a world where people don’t believe in laws. All the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE CRIMINALS they are not poor honest people that the big bad WHITE man is tossing out of the country.
Up until the mid 1800s in N America, Spaniards would sent out seek and destroy teams to hunt down “illegals”. Never mind that such “illegals” were French and English nationals living in their own independent societies hundreds of miles away from any Spanish settlement. The only reason the people hunt ended was because the Spanish empire was dying out, not because of a change of thinking.
nodaddynotthebelt> Could not resist making a comment to your post. Why are we relating our immigration problem to Gestapo like actions? Yes, the US is a country born through the immigration of many different nationalities for more than 300 years. The American Dream is very appealing to people all over the world and they want to share that dream which may be impossible for them in their current country. We are a country of people that have come into this country legally and that’s how it should be for those who want to try to achieve the American Dream. Follow the laws and rules that are established. Not by “cheating” the laws and rules through immigrating into this country illegally. We should all be smarter and realize that this country is divided by the actions of people who are uninformed and by those that seek the destruction of America. We have our own internal enemies that have great wealth and have focused on bringing America down and in flames. Don’t get caught up in the BS rhetoric from the LEFT and think for yourself and analyze what is going on in our country. POTUS intent is good and he wants to make America great. There are others that want the opposite. Think!!!!!!
Somebody’s been overdosing on the Kool-Aid. Comparing the Gestapo/Nazis to law and order conservatism is a lazy and weak argument. Further, you cite Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, Vietnamese and Mexicans to make the case that America is a nation of immigrants. Thanks captain obvious, you’re very astute. What seems to be overlooked is the difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration. Ask anyone who jumped through the hoops to get a green card how they feel about legalizing law breakers.
You over dosing on trumpf Goo Aid.
Nice comeback. Did mommy approve?
correct me if I am wrong, but if half a family is deported, aren’t the legal ones able to join them back in Mexico? That’s what I call “keeping families together”. I say deport ALL Hispanicks, even the legal ones. They have made it perfectly clear they have no intention of coming to JOIN the USA as all other immigrant groups do. They come to steal the USA. Trying to force the Spanish language on the USA and trying to make it law that every entity in the USA (rivers, schools, building, parks, schools, etc) be given a full Spanish name under the ruse of “wanting to preserve the heritage of the area”. Hispanicks want their own successful country they can be proud of that is a player on the world stage. Macho Hispanick pride demands no less. No way are they going to allow the world to equate them with failure. Hispanicks are obsessed with using the power of the USA to promote their language on the world stage.
Pinko sushino, aaahhh. San Diego, Texas,Las Vegas,Los Angeles ALL SPANISH NAMES. WHY? DO YOU ASK? because.it was occupied by Hispanics before the gringos.
These people you talk about all came here legally. That is the difference which you do not appear to be able to understand.
my parents came to America “legally” nothin “illegal” about that looking for the American Dream. There are basically 2 types of immigration, legal or illegal. STOP insinuating there’s only one type of way to immigrate into the US. There is a Right way and a Wrong way, 2 different scenario’s looking for the American Dream.
How could you disregard our immigration laws?
There is no reason for the illegal immigrants to wait in fear or wait for anything. All they have to do is pack up and go back from where they came.
I’ve said it before and, I’ll say it again, when they knock on ten doors a hundred will self deport. Adios, and don’t let the puerta hit you on you kulo on the way out..
Why is the “white guy” always to blame? I’m sure ICE has some diversity.
Drain the swamp of the illegals…
I remember when I worked in property management in Mona in the eightys and nineties when ICE came the Mexican illegal immigrants would leave. You cannot enforce a law if there is no follow through. Illegals should fear the consequences.
Kona not Mona!
Yes, nalogirl, illegals should fear the consequences and so should the employers who hire them.
ICE in Kona will be making a come back. Now that Hawaiian is flying an international route there, CPB is thinking of posting agents there. ICE is the investigative arm of CPB.
He has another plan, too. He started organizing a phone chain. If he hears about a raid on a home in his community, he will call five people, who will call five people and so on. They will all show up, stand on the sidewalk and chant: “ICE go home.” He hopes “public shaming” will prove to be a deterrent.
—–
wont the ice officials just round up the chanting illegals and ship em off to mexico? lol
Yes it’s very sad that some families will be split. But there is a legal way to enter the US. If people would just follow the law to enter this wouldn’t be happening. Immigration is great…Legally. There are some really wonderful people south of the border who are very hard working, family oriented and friendly. Welcome! Obey the law and you are always welcome. BTW – Mexican law isn’t very friendly when Americans get in trouble down there. You don’t want to even get in a car accident there, especially if someone gets hurt.
You really think Hispanicks work hard? I say they are lazy, doing just enough to get by. That lazy gene is found all over the Mediterranean. Southern Italians and Greeks are lazy too. I say any hard working honest person would be teased and made fun of in Spanish Latin America. Brazil too. Great people down south? If so, why are all their countries complete and total failures? Good people create good countries. I say the Spanish dumped their criminals on their colonies in the Americas. Just as the English dumped their criminals in Georgia before Australia was created as a place to send them. And from Georgia, those English criminals spread throughout the Deep South.
Who dumped you here pinko?
hmmm, not good to character an ethnic race li dat. Yikes! There’s hard and lazy workers all over the World
These illegals do not have to wait in fear. Simple, self deport back to where you come from or go to Canada where they will stupidly welcome you.
These illegals broke the law by coming here unlawfully which is a criminal act in our country as well as any other country worldwide. I am tired of the drive by
controlled media putting up tear jerking stories about how families will be separated or suffer. The last I remember, people are responsible for their
actions and behavior and if parents act irresponsibly the consequence has always been that the children will suffer.
If they want to come here, they need to get in line and come here legally.
Why should they be able to cut in line ahead of others who are doing the right thing, break out law and then claim to be victims.
Give me a break.
SA censoring me again. They do not appear to want you all to hear the truth about these illegals. Not “undocumented aliens” but illegals.
They need to self deport if they do not want to wait in fear. Very simple.
ILLEGAL immigrants, not LEGAL immigrants.
HEY SA….wake UP! There is a big DIFFERENCE.
About time, and I say this as a son of a legal immigrant.
Trump is profoundly mentally ill. Obviously.
His administration is a month old, and he’s already an international laughingstock.
His election is a tragedy for the United States.
trump mentally ill no, you think its fine for criminal illegal aliens to stay in this country and unvetted isalmic terrorist to come in this country also, at least he is doing the right thing, look in the mirror at yourself before you call someone mentally ill.
mental? What is the meaning of “illegal”? Yikes! it takes one to think one is, lol.
klastri> Unless you have medical proof that POTUS is truly mentally ill, I cannot believe anything that you post. Prove it or cease your put down of the POTUS. Furthermore, his admin is only 3 weeks old, and you may think he is an international laughing stock, sorry for those who mock him. You think things are crazy, you haven’t seen anything yet. Wait and see how he will deal with those who threaten our way of life. He being elected as POTUS has provided a refreshing impact on how our govt will do business, internally and externally. MAGA!!!! You’re included to come along for the ride. If you choose to do so. No pressure.
WOW… actually enforcing the law.
What a unique concept !!!
Pssst:
Illegal criminals are being targeted.
Wonderful to see great comments from my fellow American Patriots (exception of a couple or 3) who believe America is a Nation of Laws.
POTUS Trump #MAGA Doing what he promised!
Media again…it should read “Illegal immigrants are in fear …and this has been going on long before trump took office…Obama deported more people than any other president…come on now.
As you read this article, insert the word “illegal” before the word immigrant or immigration, then it’ll be more accurate.
“news ricocheted around the world that American authorities were rounding up immigrants”
They were rounding up illegal immigrants
They know this is not the same thing, and they are using this form of sneaky lying to portray them as the same thing