SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- As the first deportation hearings for some of the dozens of immigrants arrested for working illegally at the El Balazo restaurant chain began Wednesday, some of those swept up in the raids protested the recent actions by federal immigration agents.
Members of the Mission Neighborhood Center and other activists rallied in San Francisco to condemn the raids which came in the wake of a May Day rally calling for a major overhaul of U.S. immigration policy.
“I'm very sad here today that I'm being treated like a criminal. All we want to do is be able to work,” said Juan Francisco Savilla, one of those arrested, through an interpreter.
A spokeswoman for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Virginia Kice, defended the agency’s enforcement of immigration laws, noting they were based on investigations and not random sweeps.
(jro)