Protesters outside the headquarters of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raised their voices and wielded signs to signal their displeasure at the announcement of DC-centric immigration stings, on Tuesday. Isaias Guerrero from the immigrant activist group, Sanctuary DMV, described ICE as ‘an insatiable monster’ allowed to raid immigrant communities, behaving in an intimidating manner toward them.
The crowd chanted slogans, such as, “Not one more deportation” and, “Here we are, and we are not leaving”. Last week, ICE announced the completion of a five-day operation, which led to the arrest of 82 undocumented immigrants. Most either had ties to criminal gangs or previous criminal records, according to ICE.
The director of the Washington Field Office of the Enforcement and Removals Operations division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Yvonne Evans, said that such immigration enforcement operations were targeted at criminal aliens. Salem Acuna from social justice network, Mijente says that the current crackdown on immigrants by President Donald Trump is a continuation of harsh policies pursued by President Barack Obama, but more unapologetic, bold, and public.
Acuna says that people suspected of being undocumented immigrants deserve due process. He slammed the ICE program 287(g), which sees similar training as that given to immigration officers provided to police officers. Acuna says he and his organization work to dispel myths about undocumented immigrants and crime. He accused anti-immigration advocates of using crimes such as a high school rape in Rockville, where the accused were undocumented immigrants, to criminalize entire groups.