Immigrants in Kentucky and nationwide come to the United States to seek a brighter future, to be reunited with loved ones or to escape danger in their homeland. However, the road toward citizenship is not always easy, and sometimes an immigrant faces the threat of deportation.
A Department of Homeland Security initiative to round up over 8,000 undocumented immigrants across the nation in September has been scrapped, according to officials. The initiative would have been the biggest of its type in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement history. ICE cited damage caused by two recent hurricanes as the reason for the cancellation.
An ICE spokesman reported that sometimes certain factors lead to an alteration in operational plans. The hurricanes’ impact on Texas and Florida has led to this recent change in plans. At this point, no nationwide initiative is in the works. Instead, those areas affected by the hurricanes should focus on saving people’s lives and making the areas sustainable.
The initiative was supposed to last five days, starting September 17. It was named “Operation Mega.” It is thought that the sheer number of undocumented immigrants being targeted in this initiative was chosen to try to meet deportation goals by September 30, which is the end of the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
Immigrants in Louisville may be relieved that this planned raid will not go through, at least not as of right now. However, that doesn’t mean that the threat of deportation and removal does not exist. Immigrants who are concerned that they could be deported should discuss their concerns with an immigration attorney who can explain their rights and assist them should they be detained.
Source: NBC News, “Homeland Security Cancels Massive Roundups of Undocumented Immigrants,” Julia Ainsley and Andrew Blankstein, Sept. 7, 2017
