communities that plants like the one behind me employ undocumented labor. so the question is how many of these bosses who employ undumed immigrants are going to be prosecuted? how many of them are going to be detained and seek justice? that remains to be seen. i did reach out to an i.c.e. official. you heard that information in the piece. they said it was purely consistencedantal, they called it business as usual and acknowledged the optics are poor. it comes just a few days after that blatantly racist attack that targeted the latino community. talk to me what it s like there? reporter: what happens here or what s happening here is what happens to a lot of communities that see raids like this. they become ghost towns. on a typical day locals tell me you ll hear the sound of kids running around. this is the first week of school back here.
more than 600 i.c.e. agents were involved. now, while we are a nation of immigrants, more than that we are first and foremost a nation of laws. reporter: responding to criticism that the arrest of hundreds of undocumented immigrants fell on the first day of school as well as just after a deadly mass shooting that targeted latino, an i.c.e. official with direct knowledge of the raids defending the timing as coincidental but said he understood the poor optics. the official who was on site for the raids telling cnn the emotion was a horrible thing. i saw kids coming up crying at the gates. some detainees have been released with ankle monitors to reunite with their families. still local activists expressing outrage about the operation here in this community, a community here only to contribute. we are ashamed about what our state is doing, but we re here to let everyone know around the world we re going to fight back and we re going to make sure these families are supported. nick v
he s not a criminal. desiree works at one of the seventh plants across the six mississippi cities targeted by i.c.e. many kids cry, scream for their loved ones because they re gone. they don t know when they ll see them again. reporter: kids who would have had to fend for themselves if not for the compassion of locals like jordan barnes. we ll have beds for them and get food for them to get them through night. if they need transport to school, we ll arrange that as well. reporter: they called the raids the largest single state enforcement operation in american history. more than 600 i.c.e. agents were involved. while we are a nation of immigrants, more than that, we are first and foremost a nation of laws. reporter: responding to citizen spix the arrests of hundreds of undocumented immigrants fell on the first day of school, as well as just after a deadly mass shooting that targeted latinos, an i.c.e. official with direct knowledge
it just raises for me all the memories of child separation. the administration is conducting its immigration policy in a way that traumatizes children without careful planning. perhaps with a lot of callousness. i don t know if they chose to do raids on the first day of school. an i.c.e. official said they did give school administrators a heads up the same day. that didn t seem to help the children whose parents never showed up to pick them up. can you imagine the terror you have as a child? your parents are suddenly gone and you don t have a place to go home to? what does it mean for your life? it just re-evokes the factors that we saw in spades with the administration down on the border, ripping children out of their parents arms. it is a different style of doing it. but the same impact on children.
everything. i need my dad. my dad is not a criminal. please! the girl you saw has since reunited with her mother. i spoke earlier with jeff merkley. he made comments after kids were separated from their parents. i wonder what goes through your minds when you see these images, dealing with the repercussions of this raid. particularly children waiting for parents who are not showing up. it just raises for me all the memories of child separation. the administration is conducting its immigration policy in a way that traumatizes children without careful planning. perhaps with a lot of callousness. i don t know if they chose to do raids on the first day of school. an i.c.e. official said they did give school administrators a heads up the same day.