The Trump administration is intensifying immigration enforcement across the country. New reporting from the New York Times says federal immigration agents arrested thousands of people over a five-day period as the administration pushed to increase arrests.
Several people who say they felt harassed, discriminated against or abused during encounters with ICE and DHS. Many say those concerns have only intensified as immigration enforcement has increased.
ANTHONY VICTORIA: Dozens of people were arrested by federal immigration agents across the Inland Empire on the last weekend of June. That’s according to the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ICIJ), which tracks enforcement activity in the area.
The arrests come as the Trump Administration ramps up immigration enforcement nationwide. New reporting by the New York Times found ICE arrested 10,000 people over a five day period at the end of June.
TAMARA MARQUEZ: “We’ve said it some time again, the raids have never stopped, maybe they slow down, but we are seeing an increase.”
VICTORIA: That’s Tamara Marquez with ICIJ. She says the organization has rapid response volunteers who observe ICE enforcement activity daily. She says based on their analysis of arrests, many people ICE and DHS have arrested aren’t criminals. Marquez says many of the people who have been detained or deported have no prior history of arrests.
MARQUEZ: “They're just being stopped by the way that they look, by the way that the car that they're driving, you know, the specific hour of time, and most of the time they don't have a criminal record, they don't have a warrant to arrest them.”
VICTORIA: For many Inland Empire families, the impact of immigration enforcement extends well beyond the arrest itself. Xochitl Olea said she woke up to her worst nightmare on May 27. Olea said her husband, Herber Aquino, works in construction. He is Guatemalan and has been in the US for eight years. Olea is a U.S. citizen.
But Olea said around 5 a.m. she received a call and learned her husband had been arrested and detained by ICE. Olea claims her husband tried to cooperate, but that the agents didn’t identify themselves and gave no reason on why he was being arrested.
XOCHITL OLEA: “The officer ended up getting upset, and he pulled him out of the truck. He said he grabbed him by, like, the collar and pulled him out aggressively, and that he said he hit him on the head. He physically showed me how he did it like that, and he took my husband's belongings from his pockets, which were his phone and his wallet.”
VICTORIA: DHS did not respond to KVCR’s request for comment in time for broadcast. But Aquino’s arrest report shows that he wasn’t the intended target. The report says he was taken because he is in the US illegally. Olea says her husband was trying to adjust his legal status at the time of his arrest, but ICE’s report says Aquino had no open claims or benefits with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
OLEA: “People always say, ‘oh, we'll do it the right way.’ We've been trying our best to do it the right way for five years and nothing, yeah, we're still waiting.”
VICTORIA: Emilio Amaya is the executive director of the San Bernardino Community Service Center…who helps provide legal support to immigrants. Amaya says it’s a tough time to deal with immigration authorities right now. Still, he says people should know their rights.
AMAYA: “I think people need to continue to know their basic constitution and civic rights, and to be ready to defend them. The constitution hasn't changed, most immigration law hasn't changed. What has changed is how this administration is interpreting and applying immigration law.”
VICTORIA: For Olea, the impacts have been immediate. She says her husband was the family's primary provider. Without him, she's been left caring for their four young children…while trying to navigate his detention.
AMAYA: “We have a two year old, a five year old, a one year old and a newborn. Our baby just turned one month, so it's a little bit hard right now, because I'm wondering what's going to happen, what I'm going to do without my husband here.”
VICTORIA: Olea says her husband is continuing to fight for his release. She says she's grateful for the support she's received from family, friends and the community. But she knows that support won't last forever. So for now, she's focused on one thing: bringing her husband home.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that accusations of agents using unnecessary force against Olea and not providing explanations of his arrest are false. They also said Olea is currently in ICE custody awaiting deportation.
Olea's family shared with KVCR that he filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court to fight his detention.
