Inland Southern California

INLAND: Speaking to Congress, an official stops short of saying the raids were illegal.

11:06 PM PDT on Saturday, June 26, 2004

Activists on Monday will protest two sweeps by U.S. Border Patrol officers that earlier this month detained more than 300 people in the Inland and Escondido areas.

The protest will begin at noon at the Border Patrol station in Temecula at 4336 Rancho Way, said organizer Armando Navarro, coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights and a UCR ethnic-studies professor.

The protest will be in response to an acknowledgement Friday by an undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security that Temecula-based agents that did not follow policy because the raids were never approved by the higher-level officials in Washington, D.C.

Speaking to members of Congress, Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation authority, however, stopped short of saying the raids were illegal.

Agents went more than 100 miles from the border to detain more than 150 people in the Ontario and Inland areas June 4-5. More than 160 were detained in the Escondido area June 9-10. Those detained were from Mexico or Central America, authorities said.

Monday's protest will come about two weeks after about 1,500 people protested the raids in Ontario and Pomona. A smaller turnout is expected Monday, Navarro said.

Activists have said immigrants were picked up at swap meets, Latino supermarkets and outside of homes.

During the protest Monday, activists and Latino leaders will outline proposals and demands "for an aggressive policy to protect immigrants," Navarro said by telephone.

Immigration officials have said raids were done to enforce laws and for national security.