LUPE responds to recent ICE raids targeting Valley businesses
La Union del Pueblo Entero is speaking out after two businesses in the Rio Grande Valley were targeted in “worksite enforcement actions.”
In a statement, LUPE called the action “out-and-out racism and xenophobia.”
“We at LUPE are deeply disheartened, disturbed, and gravely concerned about the ongoing ICE raids and the recent targeting of mom and pop businesses and working families in the Rio Grande Valley,” the statement reads. “What we are witnessing is the deliberate abduction of individuals as they are being up-rooted from their lives and separated from their families. Trump's deportation machine knows no bounds, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake and tearing apart the very fabric of our community.”
As previously reported, agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement went to Abby’s Bakery in Los Fresnos on Feb. 12 and apprehended eight migrants.
Abby’s Bakery owners Leonardo Baez and Nora Alicia Avila-Guel were also arrested and face federal charges of harboring undocumented migrants that were allegedly living in their bakery.
On Feb. 20, ICE agents visited Suehay Tortilleria in McAllen and allegedly apprehended eight employees.
RELATED STORY: 8 employees taken into ICE custody during 'worksite enforcement action' at McAllen tortilleria
“But this isn’t just an attack on aspiring citizens. ICE raids are indiscriminate, and Trump’s rogue immigration fantasies are also affecting U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, and new Americans who are subject to racial profiling and questioning by his enforcers,” LUPE said in the statement. “Not to mention the billions of taxpayer dollars funneled into his regime, which comes at a cost to us all.”
LUPE added that they urge the community to stay vigilant and to be aware of their rights.
“Trump’s border czar admitted that deportations have become more difficult as more people are aware of their rights and are standing up for them. There are more of us than there are of them. When we stand together, we keep each other safe,” LUPE said.
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