Immigration raids similar to those in northern Illinois have been happening around the country the past couple of weeks. Some of the accounts from families affected by Massachusetts raids are pretty similar to those reported this week in Waukegan.

The Massachusetts and Illinois raids are both part of a nationwide effort that the Department of Homeland Security claims is intended to detain and deport non-citizen gang members. But in both states, it seems immigrants who are not gang members may have been detained.

The Boston Globe reports: 

Immigrant-rights groups said this week that families told them the raids had resulted in the detention of several noncriminal immigrants.

 

One group said that at least seven Salvadorans were detained in Revere, Everett, East Boston, and Lynn, although they did not have criminal records. A lawyer with Greater Boston Legal Services said his office talked to a handful of people swept up in the raids, including at least one who did not have a criminal record.

 

Kyle de Beausset of Immigration Orange blogged about the Massachusetts raids today and ponders the global consequences of these enforcement actions. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website, another similar raid happened in Oklahoma this week but it seems that raid has drawn limited media coverage.

Today, the Globe reported about efforts by immigrant advocacy groups to educate immigrant communities about their rights in the event of a raid. Similar efforts have taken place in the Chicago area, lead mostly by worker and immigrant rights groups. Handouts in various languages highlighting immigrants' key legal rights during a raid are available on the National Immigrant Justice Center's website.