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Immigration-Enforcement Raids Begin in New York

https://www.wsj.com/articles/immigra...62969?mod=e2tw

BREAKING
Federal immigration authorities attempted raids in at least two neighborhoods in New York City on Saturday, according to a person familiar with the matter, a day prior to when President Trump had said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would begin national roundups of people illegally in the U.S.

In New York City, ICE agents went to residences in the Harlem section of Manhattan and Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, the person said. The agents were rejected by people at the residences because they didn’t have warrants, but plan to return at least to Sunset Park tomorrow, according to the person.

A spokeswoman for ICE in New York said that the agency won’t offer specific details related to enforcement operations. “As always, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,” the spokeswoman said.

The attempted raids in New York come as Democratic city officials and community activists across the U.S. have been mobilizing for the planned roundup.

After word of the raids leaked last week, President Trump on Friday told reporters before embarking on a fundraising trip to Milwaukee that the roundup would begin on Sunday “and they’re going to take people out and they’re going to bring them back to their countries.”

Mr. Trump said the raids would focus on criminals, saying agents would “take criminals out, put them in prison, or put in them in prison in the countries they came from.”

Mr. Trump had announced a similar raid last month, but it was postponed amid concerns including over officers’ safety.

White House officials on Friday wouldn’t confirm or deny the renewed operation, but reiterated previous statements that there are more than one million people in this country illegally and in violation of court orders for deportation. “It is time for these people to go home,” said an administration official speaking for background.
The official added the immigrant roundups aren’t new, and were also conducted during the Obama administration. ICE officials announced Friday that they had concluded a weeklong operation in San Diego County that yielded arrests of 20 people. Most were sought on deportation orders and criminal convictions, but seven were picked up on immigration violations—the kind of “collateral” deportations that one administration official said would be included in the operation Sunday.

The raids are set to begin in 10 cities—many which have designated themselves as sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants—Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco, said officials of the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, a Texas-based nonprofit. Protests were held in many of the cities Friday and Saturday.

Immigrant-rights advocates vowed to protect undocumented residents they say are being victimized by the Trump administration for political reasons. Many of the immigrants, they say, fled violence in countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and face possible harm if they are sent back.

“This craven action may motivate his political base, but it does nothing to make us safer and only leaves migrants at further risk of abuse, disease, and death,” Vanita Gupta, chief executive officer of the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights coalition, said in a statement.

Officials in some of the cities offered their help to any immigrant who needs it. In New York, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance encouraged undocumented New Yorkers to use free legal resources being made available throughout the weekend by the city. Mayor London Breed and other San Francisco officials offered help, including through a hotline to report raids. Mayor Lori Lightfoot in Chicago increased funding to a legal-defense fund for immigrants.