Investigation finds that 93% of ICE arrests targeted Latinos
It is not really news to readers of this blog but it is in the newspapers. The Guardian reports that
"[f]ederal agents have arrested hundreds of immigrants off New York and New Jersey streets in recent months in a stealth enforcement campaign that disproportionately targeted people from Latin American countries, according to an investigation by the City Reporter based on a review of more than 1,200 lawsuits. . . . More than 93% of the people grabbed off area streets who filed suit were from Latin American countries, although Latinos make up only 66% of immigrants without legal status in the region." (bold added).
The arrests have traumatized Latino neighborhoods:
"Street arrests are different from other types of immigration enforcement in that they unfold in minutes, often on quiet residential streets and out of public view. . . . The surprise encounters often left immigrants stunned, as they feared they were being kidnapped. Some ran in terror from the masked agents. Other encounters turned violent as officers deployed Taser guns and smashed car windows. Agents at times shouted racial epithets, for example, allegedly calling one immigrant a `maldito Mexicano' – `fucking Mexican' – during the arrest, according to one lawsuit . . . . "
