Federal and state agencies allegedly detain immigrants on “inflated” and “loose” associations to gang membership, immigrant advocates claimed after submitting a recent Freedom of Request Information request to multiple federal agencies last week.
In its FOIA request, the advocacy group New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) called on law enforcement agencies to turn over documents relating to Operation Matador, a collaborative enforcement operation effort led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency targeting immigrants with suspected gang associations to the MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha gang on Long Island, New York. According to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) data, 350 people were arrested on charges of being in the country illegally or on unrelated criminal charges since May. The operation began in 2005 under Operation Community Shield, which targets gang members and their associates, according to the ICE agency.