Immigration roundups show no sign of slowing down.
HOUSTON — There is growing concern among immigrant advocates in Houston about immigrants reportedly disappearing after being rounded up. KHOU 11 learned the Mexican government is offering funding to consulates around the country to keep legal teams on standby to help families track missing loved ones.
Immigration roundups show no sign of slowing down. We’ve seen it in Houston and around the country.
“It’s a nightmare, first of all,” said LULAC’s Isidro Garson. “All of a sudden, one of their loved ones is not there with them.”
Garza is LULAC’s state chair on civil rights, and he said we’re bound to see breaks in the system. Anticipating challenges in tracking people in custody. Concerned current reports of missing detainees may be by design.
“We have some good agents, but some within the agency have an inner wanting to inflict more pain on the people that they picked up,” Garson said.
Lourdes Orestano with the Mexican Consulate in Houston says that for years, the Mexican government has set aside funding for teams of lawyers equipped with tracking people lost in the system.
“A lot of people don’t know where their family members are at. They are lost or scared. And we try to help them find where they are and listen a bit to their stories,” Orestano said.
He said people still searching for loved ones who can prove they are related must come to the consulate in person to request help. Once loved ones are found, they’ll be able to check how they are and then relay health concerns to detention officials, and where they are in the deportation journey.
“All Mexican consulates are a safe space,” he said.
Orestano said that despite reports of detainees seemingly unaccounted for in places like Florida, different states have their own operating standards. And in Houston, typically those detained have had previous encounters with immigration. Often, through old deportation orders or even criminal offenses, the team of attorneys has a place to start.
“Having someone deported, potentially never seeing them again, is a huge loss for families, not only income-wise, but emotionally,” he said.
With ICE efforts continuing, Garza encourages families to keep this information in mind: “If the first thing that they say is, ‘I want to speak to my consulate,’ that process starts. But if they don’t ask for it, they just get bunched up. And they processed them as they see fit.”
Statement from ICE regarding families searching for detainees:
The ICE detainee locator provides family and friends with the ability to confirm where their loved ones have been taken, but as is clearly stated on our website, it can take 48 hours to update from the time an alien enters ICE custody. However, all aliens who are taken into ICE custody are provided an immediate opportunity to call their family and friends when they first arrive at an ICE facility. As they move to in-processing, they are offered two more opportunities to make a phone call, and once they are booked into the dorms, they have 24/7 access to phones to call their loved ones. We also provide them with tablets in their dorms so they can video chat with their family and friends, and we offer visiting hours so they can come visit them in person.
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