About 100 people gathered in front of federal immigration
offices Wednesday in San Francisco to protest recent raids in
the Mission District.
Organizers of the rally say they know of at least three
raids by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
since early May that have resulted in arrests and
deportations. They invoked San Francisco's refuge ordinance --
which prohibits use of city funds and resources in enforcing
federal immigration laws -- in calling for an end to the
sweeps.
"This is not supposed to happen in San Francisco," said
Maria Poblet of the St. Peter's Housing Committee, a tenant
advocacy group in the Mission District. "We want to call
attention to these raids. We want the city to say it's not
OK."
On May 6, federal officials entered the Sunrise Hotel on
Valencia Street to detain an undocumented South Asian man,
said Nick Pagoulatos of St. Peter's Housing. The search ended
with the arrests of a second South Asian man and seven Mexican
citizens. The Mexicans were quickly deported.
"They exceeded the scope of their investigation,"
Pagoulatos said. "They knew the hotel had a number of other
undocumented immigrants, and they took advantage of the
situation."
Pagoulatos says two other sweeps have occurred since the
Sunrise Hotel raid.
Ivy Lee, an attorney with API Legal Outreach, says there
have been similar sweeps around the country, including one in
a Chinatown restaurant last year. Immigrant rights groups have
reported a rash of raids in Southern California.
A coalition of community groups including La Raza Centro
Legal, the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, SRO
Families United and St. Peter's Housing organized the rally.
Using bullhorns, coalition members asked federal
immigration agents to meet with them. No one came out of the
Sansome Street offices.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials did not
return phone calls seeking comment.
Supervisor Tom Ammiano, whose district includes the
Mission, was the first speaker at the rally.
"(The raids) are in violation of what we define as
democracy in San Francisco," Ammiano said. "It's a very
bullylike attitude that really has nothing to do with
justice."
The Board of Supervisors condemned the Sunrise Hotel raid
in an Ammiano- sponsored measure that Mayor Gavin Newsom
signed this month.
E-mail Cicero A. Estrella at cestrella@sfchronicle.com.
