Immigrant community reacts to ICE deportations starting Sunday

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to start their deportation raids of undocumented immigrants on Sunday.

Officials expect thousands of immigrants in 10 major cities, including Denver, to be targeted during the raids.

Daniela Castaneda, a U.S. naturalized citizen in Colorado Springs, said it’s unfair that undocumented immigrants are often portrayed as delinquents.

“Not everybody comes here to rape or to steal as [President Donald] Trump says,” Castaneda said. “There are very good people that come here to better themselves.”

Pastor John Toepfer of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church shares Castaneda’s sentiment.

“Our families are here because many of them have fled violence or hunger, poverty in their own country of origin,” Toepfer said. “And they’re simply good, hardworking, honest people who are seeking a better way of life.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham defended the raids, saying it’s a matter of enforcing the rule of law.

“Beginning to deport people who have gone through the process and lost their case is to me not cruelty,” Graham said.

An ICE spokesperson was not available for comment. The Colorado Springs Police Department said it does not work with ICE agents during these raids.