For Immediate Release
September 3, 2015
Contact: Claudia Bautista, cbautista@ndlon.org

NDLON Demands Answers from ICE after “Record Number” of Arrests

Los Angeles, CA—In response to ICE’s ‘record setting’ raid in Southern California during which 244 people were taken from their homes, immigrant and civil rights groups are demanding transparency from ICE and offering a hotline for individuals that have been impacted (HOTLINE: 844-878-7801). On Thursday morning, groups held a press conference outside the Los Angeles ICE field office and delivered a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request addressed to ICE Director Sarah Saldana.

Representatives from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) made the following statements:

Pablo Alvarado, NDLON Executive Director:

“ICE is using this operation to challenge the decision of Californians against ICE’s improper collusion with local law enforcement to set up in jails and prisons in the state and detain people beyond their sentences. Immigration enforcement should not be used to blackmail local law enforcement or political actors.

“Given the dangerous political rhetoric that is scapegoating, criminalizing, and dehumanizing immigrants, it is vital there be transparency from agencies (outside of the political sphere) that are entrusted to enforce the law.”

“Today, we are helping ICE to live up to its statutory obligation to provide basic details to the public—immigrants and citizens alike. And we continue to call for a more humane immigration policy that recognizes the human dignity of migrants, and does not support their use as political pawns.”

Emilou MacLean, NDLON Staff Attorney:

“Unfortunately, DHS — by its own admission — suffers from a trust deficit when it comes to its deportation programs. The manner in which ICE conducted recent raids did nothing to close the social distance that it has caused between immigrants and law enforcement.

“Today, we are asking for ICE to provide the public with information about the latest raids —

— who was detained?
— who was involved in the raids and at what cost?
— what other raids have been conducted since the November 2014 change in policy by ICE towards a greater use of prosecutorial discretion — and who was picked up there?
— what justifications and legal authority did ICE rely on to justify the raids?”

Read the Letter to ICE Director Sarah Saldana HERE

*** IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS BEEN IMPACTED BY THE RECENT ICE RAID, PLEASE CALL 844-878-7801 ***

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