Women and Children First: Homeland Security Targets "Family Units" for Deportation in May and June

By Danica Jorden, Z Communications via Truthout
May 17, 2016

After January's raids that tore teens from their families and plucked them off buses on their way to school, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is about to embark on a renewed quest to arrest and deport Central Americans who applied for refugee status in the United States in the summer of 2014. According to sources reported by Reuters on May 12, 2016, and confirmed by DHS a day later, the agency is sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents out on a second wave of raids against immigrants, this time with the specific aim of apprehending and imprisoning Central American women and their children, or "family units" and unaccompanied minors.

An article by Julia Edwards published by Reuters on Thursday referred to internal papers that were revealed to the news agency concerning the upcoming operation. "Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has now told field offices nationwide to launch a 30-day 'surge' of arrests focused on mothers and children who have already been told to leave the United States, the document seen by Reuters said. The operation would also cover minors who have entered the country without a guardian and since turned 18 years of age, the document said. Two sources confirmed the details of the plan."

Despite assurances by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson that "we will offer vulnerable populations in Central America an alternate and legal path to safety in the United States," the impending actions seem to be anything but.[...]

Read the full article:
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/36060-women-and-children-first-homeland-security-targets-family-units-for-deportation-in-may-and-june