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Seven detained in East Oakland ICE action, including teen and relatives
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained seven people Tuesday morning after arriving at a home in East Oakland, according to family members and an attorney representing the group.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained seven people Tuesday morning after arriving at a home in East Oakland, according to family members and an attorney representing the group.
ICE in Oakland
What we know:
Among those taken into custody were a 17-year-old boy, a niece and cousin, and four other people who lived in the home near 79th Avenue and Hillside Street. All are from various Central American countries, and at least one of the individuals was here on asylum, according to the relative.
"They come and they force the door to come in," said a relative, who asked not to be identified. "And they didn’t bring an order to get into the house, and they tied their hands."
Detainee has disability
Immigrant rights attorney Nikolas de Bremaeker, with Centro Legal de la Raza, is representing the detainees, who include a man he described as having a severe disability.
"No person with that disability should ever be detained," said de Bremaeker, who met some of his clients at ICE’s San Francisco field office on Sansome Street on Wednesday.
"Nobody should be detained there for more than a few hours, let alone a child," said De Bremaeker. "It’s really just a few bare rooms with a toilet."
He said it remains unclear what prompted the raid, but advised undocumented immigrants that they have the right to remain silent, and the right not to open the door unless ICE agents present a judicial order signed by a judge.
Relative speaks out
A relative said her son, who is among the people detained, came to the United States when he was 9 years old, graduated from high school with good grades, and works as a restaurant manager.
"The immigrants, we just come to help the country to be better," she said, adding that she wants her son released.
De Bremaeker said several of the detainees have already been transferred to a facility in Washington state, complicating his efforts to seek their release.
ICE has not responded to a request for comment.
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