Mexico Says 122 Mexicans Detained in Mississippi ICE Raids

Mexico's foreign ministry said Thursday that 122 Mexicans had been detained in the southern U.S. state of Mississippi as part of sweeping U.S. immigration operation.

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In a statement on Twitter, the Mexican foreign ministry said that 34 of the 122 detained nationals had been released and notified of dates for hearings with migration authorities.

U.S. immigration authorities arrested nearly 700 people at seven agricultural processing plants across the state Aug. 7 in what federal officials said could be the largest worksite ICE raid in a single state.

The unprecedented round up by immigration officials is another example of President Trump’s two-year streak of xenophobic practices against immigrants from Mexico and other American countries under the guise of ‘law enforcement.’ 

ICE said it has made more than 2,300 criminal and administrative arrests related to workplaces in the 2018 fiscal year, which ended in September, compared to just over 300 in the previous year. Several Congress members made visits to ICE facilities in Texas last month that showed the inhumane conditions taking place inside the past-capacity detention centers. 

Julia Solorzano from the Southern Poverty Law Center, said these large-scale workplace raids only serve to "terrorize" and "destroy" law-abiding communities, rather than protect residents, as the administration claims.

Trump's admnistration recently succeeded in cutting the number of eligible asylum seekers, most who are presently arriving from government-corrupt Central American countries.

Legislation introduced this year by Democratics that would have helped around two of the nation’s 11 million undocumented a path to citizenship is at a stand still.

During the administration of former President Barack Obama, ICE prioritized the arrests of recent border crossers, people who had previously been ordered deported and supposedly posed a threat to public safety.