[migrawatch-public] 30 undocumented workers targeted in San Rafael, Ca.

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
> 30 illegal immigrants targeted in Canal neighborhood
>raid
> Mark Prado
> Article Launched: 03/07/2007 12:30:56 AM PST
>
> Rey Reyes stands at the intersection of Canal and
>Belvedere streets
> near the apartment complex where his two brothers,
>brother-in-law and
> a 7-year-old nephew were among those taken into custody
>during a early
> morning immigration sweep Tuesday in the Canal area of
>San Rafael. (IJ
> photo/Jeff Vendsel)Armed with 30 arrest warrants,
>federal immigration
> officers swept into the Canal neighborhood in San Rafael
>at dawn
> Tuesday and arrested illegal immigrants.
> "They went right into buildings and pulled people from
>their homes,"
> said Edgar Hernandez of the sweep, which began about 5
>a.m. and lasted
> until 8:30 a.m. "These are just working people, not
>criminals.
> Everyone in the Canal is now afraid."
>
> Caught up in the sweep was 7-year-old Kevin Reyes, an
>American
> citizen, who was with his family in an apartment on
>Belvedere Street
> when officers made the arrests, according to his uncle,
>Rey Reyes.
>
> "They put handcuffs on him, he is only 7," Reyes said
>through an
> interpreter.
>
> At Bahia Vista Elementary School, Principal Juan
>Rodriguez reported
> two students were separated from their parents because
>of the raid and
> that 77 children did not come to school, likely out of
>fear. On a
> typical day, eight to 10 students are absent.
>
> The sweep was part of a stepped-up Immigration and
>Custom Enforcement
> program called Operation Return to Sender, which aims to
>arrest people
> in the country illegally.
>
> The effort is part of the Department of Homeland
>Security's plan to
> secure borders and reduce illegal immigration. Since it
>was launched
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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>
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> in June 2006, Operation Return to Sender has resulted in
>more than
> 18,000 arrests nationwide.
> The 30 people targeted in the Canal sweep had been
>ordered deported,
> immigration officials said. They did not say exactly how
>many people
> were arrested.
>
> "These are people who are here illegally," said Lori
>Haley,
> immigration spokeswoman. "Our first priority is to find
>these people
> who have ignored their final order of deportation."
>
> But if officers incidentally find other illegal
>immigrants in their
> sweeps, they are arrested as well. Haley said the
>program "normally"
> targets adults, but had no further comment.
>
> The raid in the Canal was one of many that have occurred
>throughout
> the country in recent weeks, Haley said.
>
> Haley wouldn't disclose how many officers were involved
>in the
> operation, but residents counted as many as 15
>green-and-white
> immigration vans. San Rafael police were not involved.
>
> In the past year, immigration officials have nearly
>tripled the number
> of fugitive operations teams from 18 to 52 nationwide,
>and the number
> is expected to grow to 75 by the end of the year. There
>are now two
> teams in the Bay Area.
>
> "This is an ongoing operation," Haley said.
>
> Word of the sweep spread quickly in the close-knit
>Canal.
>
> "Everyone is panicked," Hernandez said. "They do not
>want to be out
> onto the streets. They do not want to go to their jobs."
>
> Tom Wilson, director of Canal Community Alliance, was
>disturbed.
>
> "This is horrible and inhumane treatment," he said. "The
>fact they go
> in and they take people incidentally is reprehensible at
>best. They
> used to pick people from the street and now they go
>right into
> people's homes. Some people were taken out in their
>boxer shorts into
> the cold without a chance to put clothes on. "
>
> Rodriguez called the raids "an emotional type of terror"
>that
> separated families and upset the education process at
>school.
>
> "How can the kids take tests?" Rodriguez asked. "All
>they can think
> right now is 'will my parents be taken?'
>
> "And these children are American citizens."
>
>
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