Immigrant raids targeted people with no criminal record, report says
Posted by Maureen Sieh
The Post-Standard
February 04, 2009
Three years ago, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement created Operation Return to Sender, an effort designed to crack down on illegal immigrants with criminal records, deportation orders and terrorism suspects.
But a report released today said the program increasingly arrested immigrants with no criminal record, and many had no deportation orders against them.
The report released by the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, D.C., found that nearly three-quarters of the 96,000 people arrested had no criminal record.
The institute analyzed arrest data from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Here's the full story in today's today's New York Times.
The report found that the program shifted its focus from targeting ''dangerous immigrants'' to easy targets without Congressional approval. The program garnered millions in federal dollars because officials told Congress that they would target the most threatening immigrants---criminals and terrorism suspects.
The report supports claims by advocacy groups who contend that teams of armed agents increasingly entered homes indiscriminately and often targeted immigrants with no criminal record or deportation order.
In Central New York, the Works' Rights Group, a local task force has been a leading voice for migrant workers and immigrants detained in the area. The group, based in Syracuse, has raised awareness about racial profiling on trains and buses and the lack of health care for migrant workers and the impact of border patrol raids on families.
http://blog.syracuse.com/metrovoices/2009/02/immigrant_raids_targeted_peopl.html
