ICE Raids: Working for Elites and Their Status Quo

On March 27th, 2007 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested an undocumented man picking up his 4th-grade daughter from Chaparral Elementary School in Santa Fe. According to The Albuquerque Tribune, "an anonymous source had told ICE that the suspect had engaged in sexual conduct with a minor." Within two days he was exonerated...and deported.

Santa Fe Mayor David Coss is a staunch supporter of immigrant rights, as is much of Santa Fe and New Mexico's population. The state is one of only a handful that still permits undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver's license and a state law makes undocumented students eligible for instate tuition and financial aid, a luxury they are not afforded by 40 other states.

Yet, just prior to the arrest described above, as part of its "Return To Sender" initiative ICE arrested 30 undocumented immigrants in Santa Fe. Unlike other raids that have involved local police (and still been botched), both Mayor Coss and Santa Fe's police chief were unaware of ICE's plans. As Coss told The Santa Fe New Mexican:

We're just a little displeased that such a major operation would take place without our chief of police being informed...

Schoolchildren - and school administrators - were shaken: