DEVELOPING: Late last night, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the home of Erika Andiola, a prominent activist and part of the DRM Coalition in the undocumented youth movement, and detained her mother and brother. Overnight, her brother was released and her mother, Maria, is currently still being held.
Social media lit up over the evening as thousands of people signed and shared a petition launched by DreamActivist.org, found here.
Erika informed the agents that they did not have the proper documentation to enter her home. Despite this, ICE forced entry into their home and detained her mother and brother, Maria and Herbierto. While this incident brings to light the complete disregard for constitutional rights with which ICE has come to conduct itself under Director John Morton, it is even more horrifying that this is happening every day across the country to immigrant families who cannot as quickly solicit the support of thousands online.
According to ICE policy, the Andiola family is a low priority for deportation. None of them have criminal charges and they have resided here for many years, meaning they would have been eligible for prosecutorial discretion. Did ICE choose, then, to target the house of a prominent activist to make a point? It is Arizona, after all.