LOS ANGELES (KCBS/KCAL/CNN) – A massive crackdown this week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials netted more than 200 arrests in southern California.
ICE agents said a vast majority of those taken into custody were convicted criminals.
On Thursday night protesters chanted outside the metropolitan jail where detainees were held. Some demonstrators blocked an Immigration Enforcement van.
This week ICE agents also went after businesses hiring undocumented workers.
Agents issued 122 notices of inspection to workplaces. Any employers who ended up cited could face fines or criminal prosecution.
Business owner Mike Poindexter explained the emotional toll on his company.
"They said, ‘You think it's OK to hire illegals?’ I said, ‘I've got a person with three American-born children, U.S. citizens, and I have to fire both their parents,’" Poindexter said.
Poindexter is CEO of his family’s nut processing company near Fresno, which ICE targeted.
Poindexter said his company isn’t in a position to question the legitimacy of green cards. He also said the company has taken a financial hit, and is now having a hard time filling open jobs.
"Whether Trump gets his wall or not, it doesn't fix it,” Poindexter said. “Put up a wall. You have a ‘No Trespassing’ sign and a ‘Help Wanted’ sign on the same dang wall."
The ICE deputy director said Los Angeles is one example of a sanctuary jurisdiction, which forces his officers to make a number of at-large arrests, outside the safe confines of a jail.
The situation, he said, increases the safety risk for his officers and the general public.
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