Families in Fear: The Atlanta Immigration Raids
The federal government has engaged in an aggressive immigration raids in Atlanta and elsewhere that targeted women and children from Central America. A report released today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) (Families in Fear: The Atlanta Immigration Raids) features stories from women swept up in the Atlanta home raids that began on Jan. 2. They show how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has violated legal rights, subjected mothers and children to terrifying police encounters, and torn families apart. Although the report focuses on Atlanta, the investigation found similar problems with raids in other states.
ICE had previously granted the majority of these women and children permission to remain in the United States under orders of supervision. Several of the women featured in the report were already wearing electronic ankle shackles that notified ICE of their location as they remained in the country. The raids also appear to have been conducted without warrants, which are required regardless of a person’s immigration status. When asked for copies of warrants or orders to enter a home, ICE agents ignored the requests, threatened residents or ordered them to “be quiet,” according to the report.
ICE agents used deceptive tactics to enter the women’s homes. These women also were denied their right to contact their lawyers until after they had been taken to the South Texas Family Detention Center in Dilley, Texas.
KJ