Immigration raids terrify kids, House is told [View All]

When federal agents raided a San Rafael apartment complex in the early morning hours of March 6, 2007, searching for 30 undocumented immigrants, they left behind a lot of terrified children, Kathryn Gibney, the principal at nearby San Pedro Elementary School, said.

The agents shone flashlights in the children's faces. Several parents were handcuffed in front of their kids. The next day 40 of the school's 400 students were too frightened to show up for class, and others arrived in tears. A year later, Gibney said the effects continue with higher absenteeism, lower test scores and increased counseling for her students.
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Gibney cited another incident on May 8 when federal agents stopped a father walking his daughter to Bahia Vista Elementary School in San Rafael. Since the agents could not communicate with the father, the second-grader had to serve as a translator. The father, who was undocumented, was arrested.

The arrests are part of a nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants - first dubbed "Operation Return to Sender" in 2006 - that targets people who ignore deportation orders. Since October, the agency has apprehended more than 19,000 people nationwide, including 1,620 in Northern California.

SF Gate