ICE ARRESTS INCREASE AS DREAMERS DEADLINE PASSES
A few weeks ago Congress attempted to protect dreamers and provide a much-needed bipartisan immigration solution. Four proposals were brought before the Senate and all four bills failed to get the necessary votes for Congress to keep its word and protect the Dreamers by week’s end.
With all the attention surrounding Congress’ open immigration debate in early February, many may not have noticed the large amounts of arrests and ICE raids in the Los Angeles area. Los Angeles, a targeted sanctuary city, has been the focus of the Trump administration due to its reputation for protecting illegal immigrants and for refusing to cooperate with Trump’s views on immigration.
While Congress members were failing to protect dreamers in DC, federal immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted raids across the Los Angeles area. During the raids ICE arrested 212 people and served notices of inspection to 122 businesses.
According to World Socialist and the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), Jennaya Dunlap, a member of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (IC4IJ), told the Los Angeles Daily News that of the numerous phone calls placed to her organization, one call she received was from Fermin Garcia, a father of three U.S. citizens in Riverside. Garcia was arrested last Sunday, and despite potentially having U.S. citizenship rights through his father, is already in the process of being deported.
IC4IJ posted on their Facebook page: “ICE decided to deport Fermin Garcia today, despite the phone calls of support and his possible claim to citizenship. They did not allow his family to see him or even to leave money or belongings to take with him.”
Top Los Angeles immigration attorney and immigrant advocate, Glenn Fogle says he’s seen first-hand the negative results of Trump’s war on immigration as Congress fails to provide us with a much-needed bipartisan immigration solution.
“As if it’s not enough that Congress fails to protect dreamers, the Senate fails to protect immigrants and their families. Our government, under Trump’s war on immigration, spent last week making mass arrests all over Los Angeles,” said Fogle when asked about his views on the growing number of arrest in the LA area.
Fogle continues, “And as if the mass arrests aren’t alarming enough, ICE seems to be arresting more and more noncriminal immigrants. There was a time when living in the US without legal status was mostly treated as a civil issue, not a criminal one resulting in arrest and deportation. Many immigrants that have quietly made the U.S. their home lead more positive lives than those born and raised right here.”
It’s no secret that these are trying times in the U.S. for immigrants making better lives for themselves. The Fogle Law Firm, LLC has teamed up with The Immigration Education Project to continue providing honest education to immigrant communities all over the county. We encourage everyone to remain informed and to reach out to the Fogle Law Firm, LLC if they have any immigration concerns.
