indynewswire: Julia Harumi Mass of the ACLU-NC on ICE Raids

While ICE (and its supporters) consistently say that round-ups and raids are conducted for reasons of national security because they prioritize immigrants with criminal backgrounds. The reality is different, as Mass tells us. Here in Santa Cruz county, the September 2006 raids resulted in 106 arrests, yet only seventeen went through the formal process and were deported.

The fight to get any information about ICE is ongoing, as the agency is far from transparent or accountable, answering the ACLU and its coalition partners' FOIA request with only *twelve* pages, and heavily redacted at that.

Of particular interest is Mass' statement that in the San Francisco Taqueria raids, those detained were given forms to fill out that had a box prechecked waiving their right to a hearing.

From start to finish, ICE raids are founded on racial profiling, unconstitutional entry, search, and detention, lack of due process, unequal enforcement of the laws, abuse of authority, inconsistency... all in the name of homeland security.

If we learn more about this agency, its practices and its documentation, we can better understand how best to fight it.

The indynewswire is broadcast live every Friday morning, from 10 AM to 12 noon, on 101.1 FM Freak Radio Santa Cruz.