ICE Raids And Forced Deportations Spur Immigrant Fears

With a new surge in border crossings, the Obama administration has launched a big crackdown. Raids, arrest, deportations. And a big outcry.

The world has been focused on the rush of Syrian refugees into Europe. The Obama administration is eyeing a push that’s closer to home. In 2014, mothers and children from troubled Central America streamed to the US border. Now there’s a spike again. The White House fears a flood. In response, it’s rounding up Central American families and sending them home. To send a message. This hour On Point, humanity, politics, border order – and the Obama administration’s new deportation drive.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Alan Gomez, Miami bureau chief for USA Today, where he covers Latin America and immigration issues. (@alangomez)

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), U.S. Congresswoman representing California's 19th District. (@repzoelofgren)

Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. (@AILAExecDir)

Roy Beck, founder and president of NumbersUSA, an "immigration reduction" advocacy group. (@RoyBeck_NUSA)

Thomas Pickering, distinguished fellow with the Brookings Institution. Career ambassador and former ambassador to the United Nations, Russia, India, Israel and Jordan.

USA Today: Raids target undocumented immigrants in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas — "Federal agents launched a series of raids around the country this past weekend that target undocumented immigrants, including children, who recently arrived from Central America, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson disclosed Monday, January 4. The raids focus primarily on immigrants in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina. Authorities have netted 121 people who are in the process of being deported to their home countries, Johnson said. They are part of a wave of Central Americans who rushed to the USA in the past few years to escape a spike in violence sparked by drug cartels."

Washington Post: Deportation raids to continue, despite outcry — "Deportations have brought the divisive issue of illegal immigration once again to the political forefront. The raids were the first large-scale effort to deport families who had fled violence and poverty in Central America in 2014 and 2015. More than 100,000 families with adults and children crossed the southwestern border."

Los Angeles Times: Families are taken into custody as push to deport immigrants denied refuge begins — "The detentions of at least 11 families across the country marked the first day of an effort by the government to find and deport Central American migrants who sought refuge in the U.S. and stayed illegally, immigrant advocates said Saturday. Unlike a string of immigration raids in the mid-2000s, agents do not plan to conduct workplace raids or other mass enforcement actions, but will instead target addresses for families with deportation orders."