ICE Raids-Using Collateral Arrests to Terrorize Communities

With much fanfare, ICE has touted its efforts to round-up non-citizens with criminal records.  This is ICE’s so-called “fugitive list” that justifies its middle of the night raids.  But in the process of searching for individuals with criminal records, ICE has also detained tens of thousands of people with no criminal history whatsoever–dubbed “collateral arrests.” According to an article by Leslie Berestein of the San Diego Union Tribune, “Out of the 80,025 arrests made by ICE fugitive teams in fiscal years 2006 through 2008, nearly one-third were people not on the list.” Increasingly, ICE’s tactics are casting doubt on its national security rhetoric.