More than 2,000 immigrants were detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a national operation that took place between July 13 and August 20 in Texas, Florida, Virginia and California.
These arrests mark the end of the killing of raids in the country due to the pandemic.
According to authorities,
around 85% of those arrested had pending convictions or criminal charges
.
Dave Marín, director of the ICE field office in Los Angeles, highlighted in a statement that agency officials have continued specific enforcement operations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, while incorporating appropriate procedures. to carry out missions safely and effectively that guarantee public safety.
The official noted that most of the detainees have pending charges or convictions for various crimes, including, but not limited to, assault, robbery, child cruelty, domestic violence, kidnapping and sexual crimes.
In the Los Angeles area alone, more than 300 immigrants with criminal records were arrested,
the agency reported Tuesday.
“These arrests have a significant impact on the victims, or potential victims, of these crimes;
By focusing our efforts on perpetrators of crimes against others, we were able to eliminate immediate threats to our communities and, in many cases, prevent future victimizations, ”added Marín.
Report Reveals ICE Failure to Treat Immigrant Children During Detention
Sept.
1, 202002: 05
Among those arrested is a 44-year-old Mexican national arrested on July 31 in Corona, California.
The immigrant had a record with the California courts since 2007 when he received a conviction for inflicting bodily harm on his spouse and intentional cruelty on a child.
[This is how Kamala Harris thinks about immigration, taxes, health insurance and the fight against racism]
In September 2008 he was again convicted on charges related to domestic violence.
In 2013 he was again in trouble with the law for driving without a license and hitting and fleeing the scene.
The Mexican was deported that year and returned to the country again, where he again attracted the attention of the authorities.
ICE highlights the arrest of a 32-year-old Honduran detained on August 4 in Los Angeles.
The immigrant had been expelled in 2007 and returned to the country.
In 2017, he was convicted of rape, which put him in the crosshairs of immigration agents.
A 23-year-old Guatemalan man was also arrested in El Monte, California.
The undocumented man had been arrested for driving without a license in August 2016;
in that same year he was again arrested and charged with domestic violence and other crimes.
Marín stressed "that
almost 30% of the arrests made within the operation were of criminal foreigners with previous arrest requests (made to the police) not respected
."
[A former Trump Organization janitor is about to be deported]
The highest number of rejected detainer requests, relative to those captured between July 13 and August 20, were from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, Marín said.
ICE centers report more than 850 new cases of coronavirus
Aug. 29, 202000: 24
"This highlights the dangers associated with a lack of cooperation between law enforcement agencies driven by misguided policies that often put politics before public safety," the official added.
In fiscal year 2019, ICE arrested 1,900 immigrants with convictions for homicide, 1,800 for kidnapping, 12,000 for sex crimes, 5,000 for sexual assaults, 45,000 physical assaults, 67,000 drug-related crimes, 10,000 for weapons crimes, and 74,000 immigrants had convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Lawsuit in Alabama
Two organizations that defend the rights of immigrants sued the Etowah County Police Headquarters, Alabama, on Tuesday, for what they described as "retaliation" against detainees in ICE custody and volunteers who visit them in jail local.
[Migrants detained by ICE denounce that they were forced to clean facilities infected with coronavirus]
The Freedom for Immigrants and Etowah Visitation Project (EVP) groups indicated that the authorities have incurred "blatant violations of freedom of expression" and called for a full restoration of the program of visits to detainees.
ICE keeps more than 21,000 foreigners detained in facilities in various parts of the country pending the hearings that will decide on their possible deportation
.
The two organizations use volunteers to visit detainees at the Etowah County Jail.
According to the plaintiffs, in November 2019 the county police headquarters suspended visits by volunteers two days after a peaceful protest outside the jail, and Freedom for Immigrants petitioned the courts for the authorities to stop that measure.
More than a hundred detainees in the prison wrote a letter requesting that the visitation program be resumed.
Many of these detainees have applied for asylum in the United States and the visitation program,
in some cases, "has shed light on the serious abuse or harm that detainees experience,"
according to the plaintiffs.
[Floods and lack of electricity: ICE detainees in Louisiana report their situation after Hurricane Laura]
"Our volunteer visitors have provided critical support to immigrants in Etowah Prison since 2013. We affirm and value the rights of visitors to participate in democracy by exercising the rights of free expression and peaceful protest, guaranteed by the Constitution, "EVP coordinator Katherine Weathers said in a statement.
In their 14-page lawsuit filed in the United States Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the organizations requested preliminary and permanent court orders preventing the Police Headquarters from continuing to "interfere with the plaintiffs' exercise of their rights to freedom of expression".
They also requested a court ruling stating that the Police Headquarters violated the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and part of the Alabama Constitution.
With information from EFE.