Dream Act activist’s family taken into custody

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By Danielle Grobmeier The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team Fri Jan 11, 2013 1:06 PM

The mother and brother of a Mesa leader of the Dream Act movement were picked up by federal immigration officers Thursday night, drawing a national outcry from immigration reform advocates.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials released the brother of Erika Andiola this morning and indicated Andiola’s mother would be released later today amid an outpouring of criticism from immigrant and Latino advocates.

Andiola, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is a founder of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, a group of immigrant youths that advocate for the legalization of undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. In July 2012, she drew national attention when Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, a main proponent of the Dream Act, held up a large color poster of Andiola on the Senate floor while describing how Andiola had managed to graduate with honors with a bachelor’s degree in pyschology from Arizona State University despite her undocumented status.

On Thursday, Andiola posted a tearful video on YouTube moments after ICE officials came to her home in Mesa and took away her mother and brother. The video, along with tweets Andiola posted on social media, helped mobilize a national outcry from immigrant and Latino advocates demanding that ICE release Andiola’s mother, Maria Arreola, and brother, Heriberto Andiola Arreola.

In a conference call with reporters this morning, Andiola said she believes ICE may have come to arrest her mother as the result of a traffic stop for speeding in September by Mesa police.

After the traffic arrest, Andiola posted videos on YouTube accusing the Mesa police of racial profiling under a provision of the state’s immigration enforcement law Senate Bill 1070, which took effect a few days before Arreola’s arrest.

Today, Andiola also suggested that ICE may have targeted her relatives to retaliate against her for her work as an immigrant activist.

What remains unclear is why ICE arrested the two only to decide to release them so soon afterward.

Guidelines implemented by the Obama administration in 2011 direct ICE officers in the field to focus on arresting illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds that pose a threat to public safety or national security.

A statement released by ICE spokeswoman Amber Cargile did not say what led to the arrests.

The statement said the two were being released because an initial review of the two cases showed they met ICE’s policy for prosecutorial discretion, even though one of them had previously been removed from the country.

“A fuller review of the cases is currently ongoing,” the statement said. “ICE exercises prosecutorial discretion on a case-by-case basis, considering the totality of the circumstances in an individual case.”

Andiola said ICE officers came to her house about 9 p.m. Thursday and asked for her mother. She said they handcuffed her mother and as they were leaving, the ICE officers spotted her brother outside and asked him for his ID.

She said when her brother said he was not carrying an ID the ICE officers began asking him if he was undocumented. She said the ICE officers arrested him after he refused to answer any questions about his immigration status.


http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/20130111dream-act-activists-family-taken-into-custody.html
 
So, how is it news? Prosecutorial discretion does not mean that an illegal immigrant cannot be arrested because he/she does not have any criminal background - it just means that an officer can exercise a discretion of whether to arrest such individual. As far as I know, illegally re-entering the country after being deported is indeed a criminal offence. I agree that the resources should be directed to arresting and deporting aliens (legal or not) with criminal background, but I disagree with the blanket directive not to arrest any "non-criminal" illegal alien. If you are illegal in this country and vocal about it, you should expect troubles to find you one day - hardly a surprise for this young lady.
 
they can arrest all the people they want. that's how obama left the rule open. true. but after passing that rule, a rule that only came into being because of the efforts of people like her, this smacks of hypocrisy, imo. but, of course, the purpose of making the thread was not to point out whether or not it was news, but to get discussion started and people posting their opinions.
 
The majority of people on this forum came to this country legally, so I doubt this forum section will gain much attention. There are other forums for "DREAMERs" where they discuss all their problems.
 
my family came here legally too. but i have worked alongside and known "dreamers." the stereotype is built on ignorance. it's time to break it down imo. it's good both parties finally seem ready to address it. long overdue and arrived in no small part due to people like her.
 
Wanting other people to play by the rule is not ignorance by any stretch. And above, I was simply stating the fact that most of forum members are people who came here legally and who are interested in particular aspects of immigration process. That is why this forum section is largely forgotten.
 
lol. well true as that may be. someone apparently thought it was important. remember, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants in the us came here legally and overstayed, etc.
 
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