"In 1982, the man-made island between Oakland and Alameda played a role in "Project Jobs," an initiative launched by President Ronald Reagan's Immigration and Naturalization Service that deported thousands of undocumented workers to Mexico. In late April and early May, during a recession and a period of high unemployment, federal agents swarmed factories, marched into vineyards and mushroom farms and raided sheet metal plants to arrest undocumented workers who held "high-paying" jobs"
"Agents conducted more than 50 raids in Northern California, including in Oakland and Santa Rosa, and arrested hundreds of workers. Unlike today's raids, the agents did not wear masks, but they used familiar tactics, according to a lawsuit filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Agents swept up U.S. citizens, detained immigrants without probable cause to suspect they were in the country without legal authorization, kept them in handcuffs for hours without telling them their rights, and harassed others to sign away their legal rights"
"A different scene played out last week. Word got out that President Trump was sending federal agents to the Bay Area to ramp up its mass deportation campaign. Early on Oct. 23, caravans of masked agents with Customs and Border Protection began to arrive on the island, a federal installation situated between Oakland and Alameda and one of the largest Coast Guard base"
Coast Guard Island, a man-made island between Oakland and Alameda, served as a holding site for mass deportations in 1982 and again during recent federal enforcement operations. Project Jobs, run by the Reagan-era INS, deported thousands to Mexico after coordinated raids in late April and early May that targeted jobs paying above the $3.35 hourly minimum. Federal agents conducted more than 50 raids in Northern California and arrested hundreds. Reported tactics included detaining people without probable cause, holding them in handcuffs for hours without advising rights, sweeping up some U.S. citizens, and pressuring others to forfeit legal protections. Many detainees were corralled into the island's basketball gym before being bused toward the southern border. Recent October operations involved caravans of masked CBP agents arriving on the island to intensify removals.
Read at The Oaklandside
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