DEA confirms ICE raids conducted in Austin
AUSTIN - The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids in Austin over the weekend. The raids come one week into President Trump's pledge to carry out the largest deportation campaign in American history.
Federal agents from ICE, as well as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) out of Houston, conducted several immigration raids in Austin on Sunday, according to a DEA spokesperson.
So far, ICE has reported more than 2,300 arrests since President Trump took office for his second term.
Sunday's Raids
What we know:
The raids began around 8 a.m. and lasted into the early afternoon. Austin was one of several cities that saw the raids. San Antonio and Laredo were among the cities.
"I'm all for removing criminals, persons who've been ordered by a court to be removed from our country and their immigration status denied, but I don't think these broad dragnets really make us safer," U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) said.
Across the nation, 956 arrests were made, according to ICE officials.
In a raid in Colorado, nearly 50 people were taken into custody. Some were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Governor Greg Abbott has deemed a terrorist organization.
There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
What we don't know:
The numbers of people apprehended in Central Texas have not been released.
What they're saying:
"We have seen record numbers of telephone calls, people trying to get in and then requests for the people in the community just wanting information," Immigration Attorney Michelle Saenz-Rodriguez said. "I have my employer clients who are worried because their workers aren't showing up for work and then I have my families who are afraid to go to work, who are afraid to send their children to school because we just don't know what's happening. Because what we're hearing is that there are not just targeted raids, but there are all sorts of enforcement going on and everyone is at risk."
Saenz-Rodriguez says people who are worried need to know their rights.
"We want people to understand that they have a right to remain silent, that they have a right to speak to an attorney, and that there are differences in where ICE can go and where they can't go. There are private spaces and there are public spaces and your home is a private space, so unless you let them in, they cannot go in unless they have what's called a judicial warrant and you have to have a judicial warrant signed by a judge in order to enter into a private space," Saenz-Rodriguez said.
Protests at the Capitol
Local perspective:
On Sunday night in Austin, a couple of hundred protesters gathered at the State Capitol to speak out against these actions.
Some say they're not there to protect criminals, but they are there to protect 7-year-olds who are not criminals and don't belong to gangs.
Local non-profits vowed to help provide legal aid to those apprehended in the raids, saying they have three lawyers taking cases pro bono.
The Trump White House says actions like Sunday's raids will keep the country safe. However, some are questioning if deporting 11 million people is realistic.
Democrats are worried that law-abiding people are being targeted as well. Saying there are people who are not causing problems in our country, and we need a path to citizenship for them.
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What is ICE?
The backstory:
ICE was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. ICE now has more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel in more than 400 offices in the United States and around the world.
The agency has an annual budget of approximately $8 billion, primarily devoted to three operational directorates — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA). A fourth directorate – Management and Administration (M&A) – supports the three operational branches to advance the ICE mission.
Enforcement and Removal Operations
The ERO directorate upholds U.S. immigration law at, within, and beyond our borders. ERO's work is critical to the enforcement of immigration law against those who present a danger to our national security, are a threat to public safety, or who otherwise undermine the integrity of our immigration system.
The Source: Information in this article is from FOX 7 Austin coverage and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.