Posted on 01/22/2007 1:02:00 PM PST by SmithL
A wave of immigration raids in Concord, Pacheco and west Contra Costa County has prompted a local Latino advocacy group to file a complaint.
Officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, falsely identified themselves as police, refused to show identification proving their agency affiliation and prevented detainees from taking prescription medication with them, according to a draft of a complaint by the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The league also claims that agents wrongfully searched apartments of Latinos without permission under the pretext of picking up those with outstanding warrants, said Jerry Okendo, president of the league's Bay Area chapter. He estimates agents picked up more than 30 immigrants.
"They're supposed to be out working warrants," Okendo said. "They're not supposed to be making raids." He said he plans to send the complaint to the Department of Homeland Security today.
Representatives of ICE could not be reached for comment Saturday. However, ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley told the Times this week that ICE agents target known illegal immigrants who have disobeyed orders to leave the country and also possess the right to pick up others without legal papers to be in the United States.
The department created ICE in 2003 by combining the enforcement arms of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Customs Service. From 2004 through June 2006, the agency has removed more than 400,000 illegal aliens, according to an agency fact sheet.
The largest bust came last month at a Colorado meat-packing plant, where agents picked up nearly 3,000 illegal immigrants.
Latinos in Concord said sweeps off Detroit Avenue in the past few weeks have put a chill on daily life.
Students at Meadow Homes Elementary School stayed home from class Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in record numbers, said Principal Toby Montez. About 106 children were absent Wednesday, twice the normal number, with 88 out the following day, he said.
Parents called in worried that their children would be snatched up on the way to school, he said.
"There was a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety," Montez said. "A lot of kids there were traumatized."
Luis, a 10-year-old from Concord who attends the school, said agents picked up seven people from his apartment building near the corner of Detroit Avenue and Laguna Street on Wednesday morning.
His mother, who asked that the family not be identified, said agents came between 6 and 7:30 a.m.
"They took one of our friends who lived with us," Luis said.
"'They took one of our friends who lived with us,' Luis said."
Isn't it illegal to aid illegals? Shouldn't that mean that they were...aw nevermind.
Border Patrol regulations. Inside 150 miles of the border,agents are only allowed to hunt for previously convicted felons.
He's whining because they "broke the rules".
Any vehicle sporting that sticker in my neck of the woods would probably not make it 5 minutes...
Thats why I'd get a few anyway and stick them on a few democrats vehicles I know and love...
hehehe, I'm such a stinker! No sticker...No...ahhhh...
Well, you get the idea...
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