Internal emails show communication between ICE agents who were preparing to arrest at least 8,400 undocumented immigrants in a massive raid in September 2017.
“Happy hunting!” one of the emails said, asking for volunteers willing to build target lists.
Documents were released Wednesday by activist groups, including Mijente, through a FOIA request concerning the largest planned immigration raid in ICE’s history.
The internal emails show how ICE puts together target lists of undocumented immigrants from data available from companies like Palantir, sends the lists to individual field offices. While an ICE spokesperson told the Intercept they don’t set quotas, quotas are outlined for field offices in the emails.
The released documents also show how excited ICE agents were to be involved in the mass deportation raids.
ICE agents volunteered to be a part of the mass raids, according to internal emails, and a deputy field officer warned they didn’t “want anyone to feel left out.”
The raid was subsequently canceled. The released documents offer details on ICE’s internal culture and strategies, as advocates are trying to figure out how to protect the undocumented from the next targeted raids.
Photo: “ICE Arrests…” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is in the Public Domain
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