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| Women and children first: legality of ICE raids in southern states scrutinized | Women and children first: legality of ICE raids in southern states scrutinized |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ana Gutiérrez and her family had faith in the American system. | Ana Gutiérrez and her family had faith in the American system. |
| When she fled the violence of Honduras and settled with relatives in Atlanta, Gutiérrez, 31, met regularly with immigration officials and wore an electronic ankle shackle, so they could track her. | When she fled the violence of Honduras and settled with relatives in Atlanta, Gutiérrez, 31, met regularly with immigration officials and wore an electronic ankle shackle, so they could track her. |
| And then officers showed up a few weeks ago at the family’s home in Atlanta, claiming to look for a criminal. They flashed a picture of a black male, the family says, and the frightened family opened the door.” | |
| The officers weren’t police, it turned out, but agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They told Gutiérrez to gather what belonged to her - her clothes, her purse, her little boy - and come with them. | The officers weren’t police, it turned out, but agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They told Gutiérrez to gather what belonged to her - her clothes, her purse, her little boy - and come with them. |
| Gutiérrez was swept up in a 2 January operation that, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, targeted solely women and children. Early that morning agents knocked on doors across southern states, including Texas, Georgia and North Carolina, and detained 121 undocumented immigrants. | Gutiérrez was swept up in a 2 January operation that, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, targeted solely women and children. Early that morning agents knocked on doors across southern states, including Texas, Georgia and North Carolina, and detained 121 undocumented immigrants. |
| Related: One murder every hour: how El Salvador became the homicide capital of the world | Related: One murder every hour: how El Salvador became the homicide capital of the world |
| Attorney Lisa Graybill, who co-authored an SPLC report called “Families in Fear” about the operation, said most of them have been deported to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala – Central America’s infamous “Northern Triangle”. | Attorney Lisa Graybill, who co-authored an SPLC report called “Families in Fear” about the operation, said most of them have been deported to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala – Central America’s infamous “Northern Triangle”. |
| Each of those countries suffered civil wars during the 1980s, and the violence has never stopped. The Northern Triangle is now the most homicidal region in the world, and children are often targeted for forced gang initiation. So Graybill said Gutiérrez and others like her have more in common with refugees fleeing war than with migrant workers looking for better wages. | Each of those countries suffered civil wars during the 1980s, and the violence has never stopped. The Northern Triangle is now the most homicidal region in the world, and children are often targeted for forced gang initiation. So Graybill said Gutiérrez and others like her have more in common with refugees fleeing war than with migrant workers looking for better wages. |
| “Forty percent of Honduras is controlled by gangs,” she said Friday. “That’s reaching the level of state violence.” | “Forty percent of Honduras is controlled by gangs,” she said Friday. “That’s reaching the level of state violence.” |
| That is an important distinction under United States law. The US often extends a welcome to refugees from states where civil war or despotic regimes have oppressed a people; that’s not true for places where organized crime has spiraled out of control. | That is an important distinction under United States law. The US often extends a welcome to refugees from states where civil war or despotic regimes have oppressed a people; that’s not true for places where organized crime has spiraled out of control. |
| The raid on 2 January was the first mass deportation effort since 2013 and seems to represent a new and more aggressive stance by President Barack Obama’s administration. As recently as Christmas, when a wave of children from the Northern Triangle flooded across the border, the Office of Refugee Resettlement tried to help locate any family the children may have in the United States, so they could settle. | The raid on 2 January was the first mass deportation effort since 2013 and seems to represent a new and more aggressive stance by President Barack Obama’s administration. As recently as Christmas, when a wave of children from the Northern Triangle flooded across the border, the Office of Refugee Resettlement tried to help locate any family the children may have in the United States, so they could settle. |
| The immigrants detained this month were settled, often living with family, and cooperating with ICE case officers. Gutiérrez, for instance, had an upcoming meeting with an ICE officer. | The immigrants detained this month were settled, often living with family, and cooperating with ICE case officers. Gutiérrez, for instance, had an upcoming meeting with an ICE officer. |
| Related: US government deporting Central American migrants to their deaths | Related: US government deporting Central American migrants to their deaths |
| Public information officers for ICE did not immediately return calls about the operation. | Public information officers for ICE did not immediately return calls about the operation. |
| In the days after the raids White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the women arrested had already exhausted legal proceedings. But the SPLC said that’s untrue; according to the group’s report it found several legal problems with the raids and what happened afterward, when the women and children were gathered in federal detention centers. According to the SPLC: | In the days after the raids White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the women arrested had already exhausted legal proceedings. But the SPLC said that’s untrue; according to the group’s report it found several legal problems with the raids and what happened afterward, when the women and children were gathered in federal detention centers. According to the SPLC: |
| Related: Refugee crisis grows in Latin America as women 'run for their lives' | Related: Refugee crisis grows in Latin America as women 'run for their lives' |
| Graybill said she did not know the reasons behind the newest push to round up the immigrants, especially women and children. But there is a financial incentive, she said, for private owners of detention centers to hope for women and children. The federal daily rate for housing a male is $150, she said. But the rate for a mother and child – a “family unit” in the Department of Homeland Security’s terms – is $600. | Graybill said she did not know the reasons behind the newest push to round up the immigrants, especially women and children. But there is a financial incentive, she said, for private owners of detention centers to hope for women and children. The federal daily rate for housing a male is $150, she said. But the rate for a mother and child – a “family unit” in the Department of Homeland Security’s terms – is $600. |
| “That brings a lot of political pressure,” she said. “The system is rapacious for bodies.” | “That brings a lot of political pressure,” she said. “The system is rapacious for bodies.” |