By Becky Nahm
KSTP TV--Minneapolis
May 7, 2009
Protesters shouted "Stop the raids, stop the hate" as they locked arms and blocked entrances to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office of Detention and Removal Operations in Bloomington Wednesday morning.
They were calling for an end to what they call raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, officers.
Protesters dressed in baby clothes to symbolize families they say were ripped apart by immigration policies like deportation and raids.
One protester said, "ICE raids in our communities have torn children away from their parents who are being labeled as criminals simply because they came to this country to work, to try to feed their children."
Police in riot gear, waited for a time, but then asked the protesters to leave.
In a news release the Bloomington Police Department said, "The group was initially engaged in a lawful protest but several individuals quickly transitioned into criminal protesting by blocking driveways and entrances into office buildings."
When protesters ignored a final warning, officers started making arrests. Thirty people were cuffed with zip ties and carried to a waiting bus.
All of those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing and released.
ICE issued a statement which read, "As an enforcement agency, the men and women of ICE have sworn an oath to uphold the laws of our nation as they are written. We do so professionally and humanely, and with an acute awareness of the impact that enforcement has on the individuals we encounter."
The protest comes the same week President Obama will ask Congress for $27 billion for border and transportation security for the next budget year. The request sets the stage for immigration reform.
http://kstp.com/news/stories/s917241.shtml
