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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
cdarwin@c.im ("Chuck Darwin") wrote:
The fallout is being felt in places like Hays County, Texas,
not far from Austin, where ICE apprehended 47 people,
including nine children,
during a birthday celebration in the early morning of April 1.The agency’s only disclosure about the raid in Dripping Springs describes the operation as part of a yearlong investigation targeting
“members and associates believed to be part of the Venezuelan transnational gang, Tren de Aragua.”Six months later,
the county’s top elected official told ProPublica the federal government has ignored his attempts to get answers.“We’re not told why they took them, and we’re not told where they took them,”
said County Judge Ruben Becerra,
a Democrat.“By definition, that’s a kidnapping.”
In the raid, a Texas trooper secured a search warrant that allowed law enforcement officers to breach the home,
an Airbnb rental on a vast stretch of land in the Hill Country.Becerra told ProPublica he believes the suspicion of drugs at the party was a pretense to pull people out of the house
so ICE officers who lacked a warrant could take them into custody.The Texas Department of Public Safety did not respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has yet to produce evidence supporting claims of gang involvement,
said Karen Muñoz,
a civil rights attorney helping families track down their relatives who were jailed or deported.While some court documents are sealed,
nothing in the public record verifies the gang affiliation DHS cited as the cause for the birthday party raid.“There’s no evidence released at all that any person kidnapped at that party was a member of any organized criminal group,” Muñoz said.
McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson,
did not respond to questions about Hays County and other raids where families and attorneys allege a lack of transparency and due process.(5/6)