Homestead, Fla. – Elvira Carvajal’s neighbors took refuge at her house to avoid immigration agents.
Friends of Herman Martinez asked him to bring them milk for their children because they were afraid to step onto the streets.
In the weeks leading up to the huge pro-immigrant rallies in the spring of 2006, rumors swirled that authorities were on the streets rounding up illegal immigrants across the U.S.
Nonworksite arrests did jump in the first half of 2006, up 75 percent over the previous year, according to Homeland Security data released to The Associated Press.
But Immigration and Customs Enforcement insists the increase did not come from random sweeps but from its standing policy of making specific arrests, and that more than two-thirds of those detained already had deportation orders.
“We’ve said over and over that we don’t do random sweeps. We do targeted enforcement,” agency spokeswoman Jamie Zuieback said.
ICE maintains that it targets people it considers fugitives, those who remain in the U.S. despite a deportation order. However, during a search for fugitives, agents can also detain people they suspect of being in the country illegally in so-called collateral arrests.
Since the department was created in 2003, it has steadily arrested more people as its budget and resources have grown, Zuieback said.
In the first three months of 2006, ICE arrested 3,222 people nationwide, according to information released last month, compared with 2,174 held in the same period of 2005.
