Surge in ICE raids is aimed at discouraging voter turnout, immigration advocates say

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Set us as preferred Amid reports of a surge in federal immigration raids, Los Angeles leaders and immigration advocates said Friday that the efforts appear aimed at discouraging turnout in the midterm elections, and urged voters not to be intimidated.“The timing of these actions, just weeks before the midterm elections, is no accident,” said Jeannette Zanipatin, policy director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.“These tactics seek to silence immigrant communities, suppress civic participation and divide our neighborhoods.”CHIRLA’s executive director, Angelica Salas, blamed the Republican Trump administration for seeking to discourage voting and said her organizations and others will send legal observers to the polls across the state as part of the Can’t Stop California campaign.

“As threats of intimidation from the Trump administration continue just 18 days before the election date, do not let anyone convince you that your voice does not matter,” Salas said at a news conference in downtown Los Angeles.“We’re protecting our people.

We’re also protecting our people’s ability to participate in the elections.California organizes itself.

That is why we are a progressive, pro-immigrant state.”The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Sending armed federal agents to election sites is illegal, and the Department of Homeland Security previously said it would not send agents to the polls, saying the rhetoric to the contrary is “fearmongering,” according to the Associated Press.

In May, President Trump said he would “do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections” when asked about sending immigration agents to voting sites.In California, m...