The US federal government is planning a series of raids beginning next month to round up and deport hundreds of unauthorized immigrant families, hoping to discourage a renewed surge in illegal border crossings, but risking a firestorm in an election year when immigration is again a dominant topic.
The raids in communities across the country is to begin almost two years after nearly 100,000 families and tens of thousands of unaccompanied children started illegally crossing the southern border with Mexico, mostly from Central America.
That surge overwhelmed detention facilities, sending most families into US cities with little more than a court summons. Many failed to appear in court on the appointed days and were ordered deported.
Photo: Reuters
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are to fan out across the country to enforce hundreds of those orders, according to immigration officials who refused to be identified because they were not allowed to openly discuss an enforcement program that has yet to begin.
When they find the families, agents will detain and immediately deport them, officials said.
Plans for the raids were first reported by the Washington Post.
“Our border is not open to illegal immigration, and if individuals come here illegally, do not qualify for asylum or other relief, and have final orders of removal, they will be sent back consistent with our laws and our values,” ICE press secretary Gillian Christensen said.
The raids come at a sensitive time for US President Barack Obama and the Democratic front-runner to succeed him, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
A record pace for deportations last year earned Obama the disparaging nickname “deporter in chief” among pro-immigrant activists whose criticism helped inspire executive orders to pull back on deportations and offer temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of unauthorized workers.
However, those orders have been blocked in court, as Republican presidential candidates gain traction on pledges to get tough on such immigrants. Clinton has largely sided with the pro-immigration community, but the new sweeps could test her resolve.
“To even contemplate this kind of aggressive roundup is to double down on a failed policy,” said Gregory Chen, director of advocacy for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “These are Central American families who are seeking asylum and should be given humanitarian protection rather than being treated as illegal border crossers.”
The raids are intended to stem a renewed surge in families and children crossing the border. Alarm bells sounded last month after a sharp increase in the number of youths with and without parents who were being apprehended by the border authorities, mainly in South Texas.
A total of 5,622 unaccompanied youths were stopped at the border with Mexico, more than double the number seen in November last year. The surge is particularly worrisome since illegal crossings typically decline during the fall and winter.
Families and young people are coming mostly from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Underlying factors include a surge in gang-related violence in El Salvador and Honduras, a deteriorating economy in Guatemala and a regionwide drought.
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