Current News Headlines: ICE Agents Detain Father In Front Of His Wife, Children
Firstly, Memphis is not listed as one of the 10 cities that ICE agents have been authorized to arrest and deport undocumented people with removal orders. However, overzealous Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were recorded by a Memphis pastor going against directive by detaining a man on Jackson Avenue.
The pastor who has been identified as Rolandro Rostro, is heard in the video saying to agents, “Do you have a document to arrest them? Where is your document to arrest and hold these people behind over here?”
“I was frustrated. We had not seen any documents, the family hadn’t. I was thinking I need to get there and stop them because who are you?” Rostro said.
Despite Rostro questioning the agents for several minutes and even begging to see official documents, they were bent on getting to the undocumented father. The pastor said the 31-year-old from Honduras refused to get out without seeing a warrant. Memphis police were called to help out with the disturbance.
The paperwork was eventually presented but it showed the driver was deported once before and had come back into the country again. The agents broke the window and took the undocumented father of two into custody.
“I saw their faces, their agony. I saw the wife losing her husband, the children losing their father,” Rostro said.
The SPLC, which represents Manuel Duran – a jailed Memphis journalist – issued a statement regarding the expected ICE raids:
“Raids by ICE to detain and deport families will do absolutely nothing to address the very real immigration policy issues we face as a nation. Instead it will only terrorize and tear apart families and communities and drive others further into the shadows. Our attorneys and advocates will be monitoring the situation closely and ready to respond in any way we can to assist those who will suffer as a result.
“As Congress prepares to vote on additional funding for these agencies, they must acknowledge that they are funding and permitting these policies to take place. Additional monies will only provide more funding for this administration’s policies; policies that intentionally seek to tear apart families. No more money should be allocated to an agency that contends that traumatized young children who have been ripped from their parents’ arms are not worthy of the most basic care.”
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