Amidst protests the immigration authorities’ strong crackdown on illegal immigrants across the U.S., including in LA, New York, and Washington, it has been reported that the immigration agency’s illegal immigrant arrest team has been focusing its activities in Northern Virginia, including Annandale and Sterling, as well as Maryland.
According to local media outlets such as WUSA9 and Annandale Today on the 12th, agents from the Law Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been arresting immigrants one after another who appeared for their case hearings at immigration courts in Sterling and Annandale.
According to the media, four people were arrested at the Annandale immigration court on the 10th, 10 people were arrested at the Sterling immigration court on the 11th, and five people were arrested in Maryland on the 10th.For those arrested in Sterling, they were between 18 and 41 years old and their nationalities were Haiti, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Peru, and it is unknown whether there were any Koreans. The ages and nationalities of those arrested in Annandale have not been confirmed.
An official from the Legal Aid Justice Center, which helps immigrants with legal issues, said, “In the case of Annandale, the immigrants who were arrested were people who had appeared in immigration court to have their cases heard,” and “Unfortunately, they were arrested by immigration agents inside the courthouse.”
Meanwhile, MSNBC reported that the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to deploy a tactical response team to five major Democratic strongholds, including Northern Virginia, New York City, Seattle, Chicago, and Philadelphia, indicating that the crackdown on illegal immigrants is expected to continue for a while.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security is carrying out a nationwide crackdown, including raids at workplaces, with a goal of arresting 3,000 illegal immigrants per day, heightening concerns and anxiety in the immigrant community.