Sweep Victims from Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Hollister According to media reports, 107 people from Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Hollister have been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in a sweep over Thursday, September 7 and Friday, September 8. Of the immigrants, mostly from Mexico, but also from El Salvador, Guatemala and India, 44 have already been deported without prior access to lawyers. The rest are currently being held in custody at an undisclosed location. Many of those arrested in "Operation Return to Sender" have lived in the United States for the majority of their lives, have homes and U.S. born children. [add more info]

The Diocese of Monterey is holding a press conference on Wednesday at 3:30 at the Resurrection Church in Aptos. Tens of thousands have been arrested, and hundreds have been deported this year by I.C.E.

Previous coverage: Rally to Say: No Use of Immigration Status to Abuse Workers || 1,187 Undocumented Workers Detained, 275 Deported || Local Man Returns from ICE Detention and Tells of Horrors He Witnessed || Expecting Couple is Split Up by US Immigration Officers || Pakistani Man Charged With Making False Claim on Loan Application || Haitian Priest Dies in US Custody || Farouk Abdel-Muhti, recently freed Palestinian activist, dies of heart attack || Bay Area Defends Local Family Facing Deportation || Demonstrations Continue Outside INS Offices || San Francisco INS Protest || Hundreds of Muslim Immigrants Rounded Up in California || First National Day of Solidarity with Muslim, Arab, and South Asian Immigrants