Spanish version (Versión en español): ICE Confirma Arrestos En Woodburn
Related: ICE Confirma Arrestos En Woodburn
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has confirmed to OPB that agents detained 11 men in an immigration raid near Woodburn, Oregon on Feburary 24.
ICE agents stopped two buses of latino farmworkers.
The men were on their way to their work harvesting flowers when immigration officers stopped them.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement called the raid "a targeted enforcement operation" and said its officers were looking for two men who had prior arrests.
They found one of those men and took 10 others into custody.
Pedro Sosa, an advocate with the American Friends Service Committee, said most of the men who were detained are immigrants from Guatemala.
"These people come from regions in Guatemala where the violence is very high," Sosa said. "That's why they left their country."
Seven of the men have been taken to an immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington.
Three of the detained men have prior criminal convictions, including battery and driving under the influence.
The Trump administration has said it plans to increase immigration enforcement efforts in the U.S., with a particular focus on people living in the country illegally who have committed other crimes.
Four of the people detained in Woodburn have not committed any crimes apart from illegally entering the country.
ICE said all of the men are facing removal proceedings and could potentially be deported from the United States.
Editors note: This story has been updated after ICE confirmed its agents did apprehend one of the men they were pursuing. This story has also been updated to reflect the difference between removal proceedings and deportation.