Protester in Detroit try to block bus filled with illegals rounded up by ICE

DETROIT -- Portions of shackled men's faces could be seen through security bars on the windows of a white bus outside the U.S. Detention and Deportation Center in Detroit on Sunday evening.



They shouted in English and foreign languages back and forth to loved ones and friends lining the black metal fence yards away.



"I love you," men could be heard yelling from the bus.



Some in the crowd of nearly 100 that had amassed out of protest and concern wept along the fence. Others reacted with anger.



According to several in the crowd, the sweep appeared to target mostly Iraqi immigrants from the Chaldean community in Detroit's northern suburbs, including Warren and Sterling Heights, who had past felony convictions.



There were also Mexican and Muslim immigrants among the potential deportees.



Protesters guessed as many as 80 people were picked up in the sweep, but Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Detroit, wouldn't release details Sunday.



"ICE regularly conducts targeted enforcement operations during which additional resources and personnel are dedicated to apprehending removable aliens," he said in an email to MLive. "All enforcement activities are conducted with the same level of professionalism and respect that ICE officers exhibit every day.



"The focus of these targeted enforcement operations is consistent with the routine, targeted arrests carried out by ICE's Fugitive Operations Teams on a daily basis. ICE will not confirm an operation prior to its completion, nor will ICE speculate on future operational activities."



At least two buses were seen taking immigrants from the deportation center along the Detroit River Sunday.



Water bottles littered the fence line where protesters, family and friends had waited most of the day for information about what would happen with the deportees. Detroit police were on scene, but said they had no information about how many people were detained or where the buses were headed.



Among the deportees were Maher Hanna, a married 40-year-old from Sterling Heights with a 1-year-old daughter and a second daughter expected within the month, according to his sister, who asked that her name not be published.



She said her brother served three years in prison after being caught with marijuana nearly 20 years ago.



According to Macomb County Circuit Court records, Hanna pleaded guilty to marijuana possession with intent to distribute in 2000, for which he was sentenced to 11 months in the Macomb County Jail.



He was charged with second-offense possession of a controlled substance, felony firearm, misdemeanor maintaining a drug house, receiving or concealing firearms and possession of a firearm by a felon in 2004. He pleaded guilty to felony firearm and the other counts were dismissed as part of a deal with prosecutors. He was sentenced to two years in prison.



Hanna's sister, who lives in West Bloomfield, said federal agents came to her brother's home about 8 a.m. Sunday while he, his wife and daughter were sleeping. They told him they needed to take him for fingerprinting and he would be returned home shortly, but he never came back.