While at least hundreds of thousands are expected to hit the streets today, May Day, demanding legalization and basic human rights for undocumented immigrants living in the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and their roundups of undocumented workers continue to haunt, especially in the Latino community.

In March, I reported on a roundup at a factory in New Bedford, Massachusetts. As a direct result of that raid, mothers have been separated from their children via deportation. Others are in detention centers as far away as Texas, and others have left “voluntarily”, avoiding proceedings before an immigration judge but also deeming themselves ineligible for legal U.S. entry visas.

According to ICE’s own statistics, 221,66 undocumented immigrants were deported last year, a sharp increase from years past. By the looks of it, that number will likely rise this year as mounting pressure from politicos to do something about immigration. One of the demands being added by this year’s marchers include stopping the roundups and deportations, not just to keep families together but also in the name of basic human rights like the right to live without fear of persecution.

Via / Florida Herald Tribune