News - Immigration: The Consequences of Enforcement
As Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents conduct more raids on immigrants living in the Roaring Fork Valley, KDNK News takes a look at what happens to those involved after the raids take place.
Last month, federal immigration authorities working with local law enforcement rounded up 30 residents in Garfield and Eagle counties. Authorities say they are illegal immigrants and, moreover, gang members. Now they await hearings in detention centers around the state and likely deportation. KDNK's Marilyn Gleason reports on the collaboration of a lone local gang unit and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In July, federal immigration authorities working together with local law enforcement swept up 30 residents in Garfield and Eagle counties. Authorities say they are illegal immigrants and, moreover, gang members. But evidence of local gang activity is sketchy, and authorities here haven’t linked those arrested to specific crimes. Instead, they used information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement on immigration status to target residents they believe might be involved with gangs.
Garfield County Sheriff Deputy James Miller, who heads the Threat Assessment Group, or TAG, says it’s a simple way to clean up the streets. The technique was imported here from the mean streets of L.A. In an interview with KDNK’s Marilyn Gleason, Deputy Miller said an informational meeting on gangs in Glenwood Springs tonight is in partly a response to interest stirred up by the arrests.
Last month, immigration enforcement officials tried to deport a Marco Guevara, a Carbondale man who up until recently thought he was a U.S. citizen and had a U.S. passport. They eventually let him go, but promised to investigate whether or not he was allowed to be in this country. Now, the State Department has revoked his passport, claiming he was never a citizen. KDNK’s Mathew Katz reports.
Last week, we reported that immigration enforcement agents had raided the house of Marco Guevara, a U.S. citizen here in Carbondale. The agents were hoping to deport him, but left after he showed them his U.S. passport. The agency is still investigating the incident, and have said they might come back.
Marco’s originally from Ecuador, but got US citizenship through his father in 2003. He’s had run-ins with the law and spent some time in jail for cocaine posession, but says he’s been clean and has gotten a job since he got out.
These kinds of raids have a huge effect on the people they target -- and their families. As part of our series on the fallout from these kinds of raids, KDNK’s Mathew Katz took at look at how the aftermath of the raid has affected Marco and his family.
Earlier this month, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, raided the Carbondale house of Marco Guevara, hoping to deport him. The only thing is...Marco is a citizen.
But these sorts of raids happen more often than you'd think to hundreds of citizens and legal immigrants. Sometimes, they're even deported. To find out why, KDNK's Mathew Katz spoke with Cecillia Wang, an attorney with the ACLU's Immigrant Rights Project.
Over the past few days, we’ve heard the story of Edgar Niebla and Alvaro Agon. Edgar came here from Mexico illegally, and Alvaro came here legally from Colombia. In April, immigration enforcement agents raided Edgar’s house, hoping to deport him. One of the officers there to arrest him was Alvaro himself.
Both men didn’t speak to one another for over a month. Then, in the middle of May, we sat them down in our studio to hash things out. KDNK’s Mathew Katz sat in on that conversation.
Today we’re going to have the second part on our serieis about the relationship between Edgar Niebla and Alvaro Agon. Both are immigrants, both went through the police academy, but Edgar came here illegally, while Alvaro came here on a visa. KDNK’s Mathew Katz takes a look at what happened when immigration enforcement agents raided Edgar’s house, and Alvaro was one of the officers sent to deport him.
Over the past few months, KDNK has reported on a number of early-morning raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Today we begin a week-long series about how the immigration system and those early-morning raids are playing out here in the valley. KDNK's Mathew Katz reports.
KDNK Local Newscast
KDNK News for Wednesday September 8, 2010 with Steve Cole and KDNK's news team.
