ALLEN, Texas — It was a massive raid in an All-American town. A tip led to the biggest ICE raid in a decade, and it happened here in North Texas.
Immigration and Customs officials put 280 people on buses outside an electronics repair warehouse in Allen Wednesday. From WFAA’s chopper, you could see ICE agents taking people into custody at the back of the CVE Technology Group on Enterprise Boulevard.
Those arrested are accused of using fraudulent IDs. ICE had been tipped off that business was hiring undocumented immigrants and had been investigating for about a year. It was such a large operation that it took around 200 agents to carry out.
"I was at home and she called me from somebody else's cell phone," said Edgar Arrubla of his fiance, who works as a supervisor at the CVE warehouse. "She's probably going to be detained and they're going to try to deport her."
Arrubla is an American citizen. He was set to wed her on May 18.
"I'm feeling really sad," he said, as he waited outside her workplace. "I'm scared to think what's going to happen to her."
"They take jobs away from U.S. citizens and legal residents, and they create an atmosphere poised for exploiting their illegal workforce,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger with the Homeland Security Department.
As people were being pulled from buses, they were asked several times if they had children and if they were the only ones who took care of them. They were given food, medical attention and access to an attorney.
The employees were taken to be processed at ICE's Dallas office. ICE will determine whether they remain in custody or are let go on a humanitarian release.
Officials provided a 24-hour toll-free hotline for family members to locate any of the people who were arrested: 1-888-351-4024.
There is no word yet on what kind of punishment CVE Technology or its owners may face as a result of Wednesday's raid.
