Few signs of threatened ICE raids

LOS ANGELES — Longthreatened Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids were set to begin Sunday amid anxiety in immigrant communities across the country but it was unclear how many were underway or the number of, if any, arrests.

The raids were expected to take place in several major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Miami, Denver, Atlanta, Baltimore and Houston.

In Florida, ICE agents were seen knocking on doors near Miami International Airport on Sunday and in the migrant farming community of Immokalee on Friday, but there had been no reports of arrests, said Melissa Taveras of Miami-based Florida Immigrant Coalition.

“We don’t know if they’re doing it on purpose — saying these cities are the targets so then smaller places are targeted,” Taveras said.

In Houston, there was no sign of ICE raids early Sunday.

“It’s actually really quiet. We’re driving around, and it’s really empty,” said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of immigrant advocacy group Fiel Houston.

On Saturday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said his office was “receiving reports of attempted but reportedly unsuccessful ICE enforcement actions in Sunset Park and Harlem.”

Three attempted ICE raids were reported later — two in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn and one in Harlem — according to the New York Mayor’s Office of Immigration Affairs.

“No arrests were made to our knowledge,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.