San Rafael Arrests Part of Statewide ICE Activities

The ICE raid in San Rafael, California earlier this week resulted in arrests that were part of a total 900 arrests made by ICE in California this week. Tyche Hendricks writes in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Among those arrested in the Bay Area were 17 people in San Rafael taken into custody at their homes early Thursday, of whom four were targeted by immigration officials, said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice.

The San Rafael arrests sent fear through Mexican and Central American communities, which include many undocumented immigrants. Three San Rafael schools reported scores of student absences Thursday, including San Pedro Elementary School, which canceled its open house Thursday night because families were afraid to attend, district officials said.

San Pedro’s principal, Kathryn Gibney, had testified before Congress two days earlier at a hearing on the emotional impact of immigration raids on children.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, who chaired the hearing, contacted senior ICE officials Friday to express concern over the raids and suggest that current voluntary humanitarian guidelines covering workplace immigration raids should be mandatory for all ICE actions. Click here for the full story.

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POSTSCRIPT:  According to the N.Y. Times, the operations in California have resulted in the arrest of 905 people in California in the past three weeks after a statewide search for those who had violated orders to leave the country. The operation was the latest in a series of national sweeps by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The arrests were the result of collaboration among teams in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco that began on May 5.

KJ