ICE Raids 2017: Immigration Raids & Protests by State

A mother with a criminal record in Mesa, Arizona deported to Mexico. 

 

By Jessica McBride


What’s going on? Are ICE agents conducting raids throughout the country because of Donald Trump’s election and executive orders? It’s no secret that Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration the centerpiece of his campaign, and people who are undocumented have been fearing roundups ever since. He’s promised to zero in on the subset of undocumented immigrants who were convicted of serious crimes, after initially speaking of mass deportations during the campaign.
There’s evidence some raids are occurring, as reports pop up throughout the country. However, ICE insists they are targeted and nothing new, according to local news reports. Some of the scenes are growing intense, and there were protests in California, Texas, and Arizona.

Mesa, Arizona

In Mesa, Arisona, a mother named Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, who was convicted of a felony for identity theft eight years ago, was reportedly the first in Arizona to be deported to Mexico as part of Trump’s immigration executive orders, which called for undocumented residents convicted of crimes to be deported.
She wasn’t detained as part of a raid, though; she had reported to her detention officer as required, and then was not released.
An ICE spokesperson said, “Ms. Garcia De Rayos is currently being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) based on a removal order issued by the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review which became final in May 2013. Relevant databases indicate Ms. Garcia De Rayos has a prior felony conviction dating from March 2009 for criminal impersonation.”
Emotional family members and friends gathered around an ICE van as it tried to take de Rayos away and a protest erupted. DeRayos is married with two teenage children and has been in America since she was 14.
Read more about her case here:

Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos of Mesa, Arizona, has been deported after being arrested by ICE. Protesters tried to prevent her deportation.

Click here to read more



ICE is currently carrying out raid orders on illegal immigrants with existing deportation orders made during Obama’s administration.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 10, 2017

Not everyone is opposed, especially when news broke that at least some people detained had criminal records.
ICE told ABC 7 Los Angeles that raids were “targeted” arrests and “ongoing,” not the result of some sudden Trump step up in activity.
Heavy reached out for comment, asking ICE why the raids were occurring, where, if they’re increased, and how many were detained and received this statement: ”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officers conduct enforcement actions every day around the country as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to uphold public safety and border security. Our operations are targeted and lead driven. ICE’s routine immigration enforcement actions are ongoing and we make arrests every day. Our officers prioritize cases based on a variety of factors, including the person’s criminal and immigration history, as well as the viability of the leads we have on the individual’s possible whereabouts. ICE conducts targeted immigration enforcement in compliance with federal law and agency policy. ICE does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately.

Immigration advocates and some politicians said they are having trouble obtaining a list of who and how many were detained and have heard reports about stepped up raids. Social media reports about supposed checkpoints and raids have swept like wildfire. ICE raids are not uncommon historically. In 2015, under President Barack Obama, over 2,000 undocumented immigrants were detained in a raid targeting those with criminal records. In October 2016, before the election, ICE raids occurred at Mexican restaurants in Buffalo, New York.
However, the flurry of social media interest right now may speak to heightened fears post Trump’s election.
Here are where the reports of ICE raids and/or detentions are occurring (this post will be updated as more reports come in):

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Austin, Texas

https://twitter.com/ClubCouncilman/status/829955639082356736https://twitter.com/ClubCouncilman/status/829955639082356736
An ICE officer in Austin, Texas was taken to the hospital with non life threatening injuries after a scuffle erupted when the officer tried to make an immigration arrest, according to KVUE-TV.
The arrest occurred on February 10. “Austin police said additional resources were called for “crowd control” after the person’s family members got upset,” reported KVUE.
According to the Austin American Statesman, the ICE officer had pulled over a car in a traffic stop and tried to take a person in custody when family members of the person got “out of hand.” It was not clear why the man was being arrested by ICE, the newspaper reported.
Fear spread quickly on social media as there were unconfirmed reports of raids at taco stands and checkpoints. People posted information on Twitter alerting undocumented immigrants to ICE raids, and other people said those people should be reported to ICE.
A report in the Texas Observer said the raids were targeted and resulted in five arrests. Immigration advocates said they’d never heard of that many arrests in one day.
One of those rounded up was Francisco Alvarado, a landscaper, whose wife, Reyna, told the Observer he was pulled over and taken into custody. A weeping Reyna told the newspaper the couple has a daughter and added that they “fled Honduras about 10 years ago to escape gangs who had killed some of their family members.”
Protests erupted outside the federal building over Alvarado’s arrest.

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California

In California, a state Senate leader issued a statement saying there were reports that ICE raids were occurring throughout Southern California. The senator is requesting from ICE the number of people detained.
One immigration group advised that raids were occurring in Van Nuys, Downey, Norwalk, Oxnard, San Bernardino, and Santa Paulo.
There were reports that as many as 100 people were detained in California on February 9/10.
URGENT: ICE conducted multiple raids of homes across the city.
There’s a call to action 5pm TODAY at the Alameda Detention Center in #DTLA
— ACLU SoCal (@ACLU_SoCal) February 10, 2017
A protest erupted at a freeway.

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North Carolina

The Charlotte Observer says ICE is denying reports of raids in North Carolina.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is again denying social media reports that it has ramped up operations in east Charlotte, including suggestions it arrested dozens of undocumented Charlotte immigrants in the past week,” the newspaper reported on February 9.
The newspaper said social media reports had spread claims of checkpoints, but ICE officials said they only conduct “targeted” raids, like they always have done. They did not give the newspaper the number of those detained in the last few days, though.
This article will be updated as more reports come in.

Jessica McBride is a Heavy contributor. She was a crime, government, and breaking news reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and reporter for the Waukesha Freeman newspaper. Her award-winning work has appeared in numerous magazine, newspaper, and online publications. She has also appeared as a crime reporter on Investigation Discovery Channel, History Channel, and Oxygen Channel. She can be reached by email at jessica.mcbride@heavy.com.