It would appear that the mass deportations are now ramping up, beginning with schoolchildren.
In Atlanta, agents are swooping down and catching more in the net that Trump's executive order called for. Despite the limitation in Trump's executive order to arrest violent felons, others are being caught in the net.
There are reports today of ICE agents following school buses in Austin, Texas.
Yes, that's right. They're using kids to get to the parents.
Rewire reports:
One day after a man who identified himself as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) associate field director assured a group of North Carolina educators and parents that schools would remain “safe spaces” for undocumented students, local Spanish media outlets reported immigration arrests at a mobile home complex less than two miles from the predominately Latino pre-K-8 Berryhill School in Charlotte. Children in school buses witnessed the arrests on Thursday, according to Que Pasa Mi Gente.
Rumors circulated that ICE agents were on campus targeting undocumented parents and children, forcing the school principal, Cara Heath, to email the parents of 674 students, according to Que Pasa. More than 400 of the students are Latino.
Three nights ago, Lupita García DeRamos was arrested by ICE agents when she appeared for her annual scheduled appointment with them. She was convicted of using a fake Social Security card in 2008. Under the Obama administration, she was supposed to check in once per year with ICE and answer some questions, but would be allowed to remain. Now that Trump is in charge, she is in custody and will likely be deported, separating her from her husband and her two daughters. Her daughters are U.S. citizens.
They are using the children to get to the parents. That's evil. Pure, unadulterated evil. And it's not going to end anytime soon, I'm afraid.
There are groups you can support as they resist these deportations. Puente Arizona is asking everyone to call their Congressman and express their disapproval of ICE actions. There is a fundraiser for Lupita's family here.
Join the #HeretoStay network and get alerts for ways you can help protect immigrants.
As I learn of more efforts, I'll update the post. It's going to take all of us together to protect these families from what is a cruel action to separate families.
UPDATE:
UPDATE 2:
They are sweeping anyone up who does not have identification on them, regardless of their status, according to the Washington Post.
ICE agents had raided homes, and were “not just detaining individuals they are looking for ... but in fact, taking anyone else in the community, or in these homes who does not have immigration status at the moment, or who is not able to prove citizenship,” Barrientos said.
In some cities, activists said that ICE had set up roadside or neighborhood checkpoints, where ICE agents, often in unmarked cars, appeared to be asking people at random for proof of citizenship or identification.
If you read this and you are a lawyer in or near Vista, Pomona and Compton, Calif.; Austin, Dallas, and Pflugerville, Texas; Alexandria and Annandale, Va.; Charlotte and Burlington, N.C.; Plant City, Fla.; the Hudson Valley region of New York; and Wichita, Kan, these people need your help.
