US authorities begin deportations of Central American asylum seekers
Source: The Guardian
US authorities begin deportations of Central American asylum seekers
11 families detained in Georgia and Texas
Campaigners accuse Department of Homeland Security of playing politics
Daniel Hernandez
Monday 4 January 2016 14.48 GMT
The Department of Homeland Security began a divisive push over the weekend to find and deport Central American immigrants who sought legal asylum in the United States but were ordered to leave the country, according to immigration rights advocates.
At least 11 families in Georgia and Texas were detained on Saturday, the start of a campaign aimed at hundreds of families that amounts to the first large-scale effort to deport people who fled violence from drug wars in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Belize.
The repatriation of individuals with final orders for removal including families and unaccompanied minors to their home countries is part of our broader effort to address the rising surge of families and individuals arriving at our southern border, said a homeland security official who was not permitted to speak on the record.
On Saturday in Norcross, Georgia, ICE agents arrived at the home of Joanna Gutierrez, according to the Los Angeles Times. The agents reportedly arrived in an unmarked car and presented Gutierrez with a warrant for a man she didnt know. Gutierrez told them to stay outside, but the agents went in anyway. They searched the house before revealing that they were looking for Ana Lizet-Mejía, Gutierrezs niece, and her nieces nine-year-old son. Gutierrez told the Times that the two were taken into custody.
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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/04/us-authorities-begin-deportations-of-central-american-asylum-seekers