Immigration Enforcement Agency Under Scrutiny
DETROIT (WWJ) - An immigrants rights group in Detroit is stepping its' campaign against "ICE," the federal immigration enforcement agency which is accused of violating its own enforcement policies.
WWJ spoke with Ryan Bates, Director of the Alliance for Immigrant Rights, who said several questionable ICE actions have been documented.
"ICE agent engaged in such aggressive action that they threw a father, with no criminal history, nearly through a wall. Faith leaders who responded at the scene have photos of the impact crater left from this violent enforcement," Bates said.
Bates said ICE has admitted violating its own policies during a stake-out at a Detroit Elementary School.
"We would like the officers responsible for these illegal searches to be identified and disciplined. We have demanded that the officers who authorized the enforcement at elementary schools to be identified and disciplined. We have demanded the ICE submit a civil rights plan," he said.
Ruben Torres of Detroit shared his story with reporters, Thursday. Torres said he was detained for an hour by an ICE officer who stopped him on the Lodge Freeway and demanded to see his "papers."
"He never showed me a warrant or gave me any reason why I was stopped. It's pretty clear that they came after me because I was Latino. And, in my opinion, this was racism through and through," he said.
WWJ has a call into ICE headquarters for comment.
The Alliance for Immigrant Rights and Reform said it plans to announce its next step in the battle next Monday.
