The Hill
By Jordain Carney
February 13, 2017
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hand over details on who was arrested in a recent string of immigration raids.
Immigration officials arrested more than 600 individuals in at least 11 states last week, according to The New York Times.
“I am troubled by the lack of transparency and potential due process violations surrounding ICE’s most recent enforcement actions," he said in a statement. "That is why I’m calling on ICE to release information about the location of the raids and details of the people who were arrested.”
He added that "targeting law-abiding immigrants and treating those with traffic violations the same as murderers and robbers" won't help keep the country safe.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said in a statement on Monday that the arrests were part of "targeted enforcement operations" and that 75 percent of the people arrested were "criminal aliens."
But Schumer argued that reports of nonviolent immigrant families being targeted are "deeply disturbing" and make undocumented immigrants "confused and scared."
“Targeting law-abiding innocent immigrant families, instead of focusing on removing those who have been convicted of violent crimes, is a waste of limited resources and undermines law enforcement in communities across the country. ICE must come clean," he said.
Trump initially took a hard line during his campaign, threatening to deport roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants. He appears to have softened his stance since then, pledging to cut a deal on undocumented immigrants who came into the country as children—so-called "Dreamers" who could have received protections under former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Instead, Trump said that he would focus on those who have committed crimes.
He defended the recent immigration arrests on Sunday, tweeting that the raids were part of his "campaign promise." Trump added that "gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!"
Under a new order, the Trump administration expanded the definition of “criminal alien” to include individuals who entered the country without authorization, which was originally considered a misdemeanor offense.
Immigrants who have "committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense" are now priorities under the order, even if they have not yet been convicted.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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