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Raids at farms ensnare migrants who lived within the U.S. for many years
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One detained migrant stated an agent in navy garb hit him on the pinnacle, threatened him with gun
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DHS stated 185,000 folks have been deported from the U.S. this yr
By Lizbeth Diaz
Aug 12 – Yahir remembers rising up in Mexico with out a mattress or a range. He didn’t personal a pair of sneakers till he was 10, and within the mid-Nineteen Nineties — when he was 13 — he crossed with a gaggle illegally into the U.S. looking for work.
He settled in California and labored on farms throughout the state. He met his spouse and had six youngsters, the eldest of whom is now 15.
Then, on July 10, Yahir, 43, was apprehended whereas working at a marijuana farm in southern California, in one of many largest immigration raids since U.S. President Donald Trump took workplace.
“It was like a nightmare, however I used to be awake,” stated Yahir, his pores and skin dotted by solar stains from working within the fields, simply hours after being deported to Tijuana. Yahir requested to withhold his final identify to guard his household within the U.S..
As Trump ramps up his deportation efforts concentrating on immigrants within the nation illegally, Mexicans – with the biggest inhabitants of immigrants within the U.S. with out standing – reside in concern. They’re being arrested at eating places, farms, Residence Depot retailers and 7-Eleven comfort shops.
A exceptional 42% of Hispanic adults are apprehensive they or somebody near them is likely to be deported, based on a Pew Analysis Heart survey from earlier this yr.
Final week, the Trump administration requested the Supreme Courtroom to halt a courtroom order proscribing immigration stops on the premise of what language they converse or the place they work.
Yahir stated he knew of different immigrants being deported. “However I by no means thought it might occur to me,” he stated, including that he didn’t have a prison document. Reuters couldn’t independently verify his account.
Greater than 360 alleged immigration offenders have been apprehended throughout the July 10 marijuana farm raids in southern California. One immigrant employee died after he fell 30 ft from a greenhouse roof.
The president of the United Farm Staff union criticized the raids, saying they “terrorize American communities, disrupt the American meals provide chain, threaten lives and separate households.”
‘MY LIFE IS NO LONGER HERE’
Manuel, 32, one other employee on the Camarillo farm, stated he hid amongst marijuana crops in a greenhouse for 5 hours till brokers lower the locks on the door. An agent in navy garb then hit him on the pinnacle and put a gun to his chest, he stated.
Manuel declined to share his final identify as a result of he hopes to at some point return to the U.S. legally. He overstayed his vacationer visa in 2023.
The Division of Homeland Safety stated it couldn’t touch upon Manuel’s allegations with out additional proof.
After his arrest, Manuel bounced between detention facilities and ultimately ended up in a single in Adelanto, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, the place he stated he slept on the ground of a freezing cell that reeked of urine. “The torture was extra psychological nevertheless it was horrible,” he stated.
Democratic lawmakers who visited the almost 2,000-bed middle in June criticized its situations, saying some detainees have been unable to get contemporary garments or towels for greater than every week.
In an announcement, the Division of Homeland Safety stated, “The allegations in regards to the Adelanto detention middle are FALSE. All detainees are supplied with correct meals, medical remedy, and have alternatives to speak with their members of the family and attorneys.”
The DHS added 185,000 folks have been deported from the U.S. throughout the second Trump administration.
Manuel and Yahir have been each deported to Tijuana. Manuel has returned to his hometown within the state of Oaxaca however Yahir stays in Tijuana, not sure of what to do subsequent. He has by no means been away from his youngsters for thus lengthy, he stated.
“I’m from Mexico however my life is now not right here.”
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