Texas Democratic Party chairman Kendall Scudder and Nacogdoches County party chairman John Watt recognize volunteers and donors during Tuesday’s Beans and Jeans fundraiser at Old Tyler Road Cafe Texas Democratic Party chairman Kendall Scudder address a room full of supporters during Tuesday’s Bean and Jean fundraiser at Old Tyler Road Cafe Nacogdoches County Democratic Party chairman John Watt speaks during this week’s Bean and Jeans fundraiser at Old Tyler Road Cafe The annual event featured an address by Texas Democratic Party chairman Kendall Scudder Texas Democratic Party chairman Kendall Scudder speaks during Tuesday’s Beans and Jeans fundraiser for the Nacogdoches County Democratic Party NACOGDOCHES — The newly elected chairman of the Texas Democratic Party wants to take the party back to its roots in East Texas values through better messaging railed against billionaires and pined for the days of Democratic control in the Lone Star state during a wide-ranging speech at the Nacogdoches County Democratic Party’s Beans and Jeans fundraiser this week We were Democrats because the Democratic Party was the party that would fight for working class people,” Scudder said in an interview with The Daily Sentinel Scudder — who was born in New Boston and graduated from high school in Sulfur Springs — was elected by the state party’s executive committee March 29 to replace Gilberto Hinojosa who announced his resignation after a particularly poor showing at the polls by Democrats in 2024 The 35-year-old Scudder knows that low turnout is a major obstacle to overcome if Democrats want to claim any statewide seats for the first time since he was a child “Our path forward is to make sure that we are being strong enough to make sure that our people find us worth voting for,” he said “Them staying home and not voting is sending a strong and scary message to us.” Democratic turnout was down by about 20 percent in 2024 which far outpaced the modest vote total gains made by Republicans “There were 1.1 million Democrats who voted in 2020 and chose to stay home in 2024 We can either spend our time arguing with them and telling them why they were wrong and why they should have shown up and done better by us admit that we did some wrong and try to figure out why they feel we weren’t worth voting for,” Scudder said Polls and surveys have shown that many of those who stayed home don’t think Democrats “fight hard enough,” Scudder said “We’re the party that you could always count on to stand up against banks and billionaires to protect working people when we needed them we became more interested in protecting institutions than we did protecting people,” he said “Now my mission is to get us back to what we used to be.” Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office since the 1990s John Sharp served as Comptroller from 1991 to 2011 The last Democrat to serve as governor was Ann Richards Better messaging and a focus on working class Texans can help Democrats make gains “I’m not asking people to admit they were wrong I’m asking them to admit they were lied to and that’s exploit your labor and prey on your fears and take advantage of you,” he said “You don’t become a billionaire unless you exploited somebody’s labor You don’t become a billionaire unless you refuse to profit share with the labor who generated that wealth for you These days they act like that makes you some kind of crazy leftist That’s the foundational principle of what I was raised with here in East Texas.” Republicans are largely responsible for problems in Texas which are often blamed on Democrats despite the GOP being the ones who have “run this sucker into the ground,” Scudder said “You should long for the days of the ’80s when the Democrats ran this state Our bridges and roads were the envy of the world We had some of the safest streets in the country The cost of living was affordable — everything that we are striving to make our state back to its glory days was when the Democrats ran this state,” he said Republican candidates still remain popular throughout Texas President Donald Trump won Texas in 2024 with 56.1% of the vote Texas has not supported a Democrat for president since Jimmy Carter Greg Abbott was almost as popular in his 2022 re-election bid defeating Democrat Beto O’Rourke by a 54% to 43% margin Nacogdoches County has remained deeply red Trump won nearly 70% of the vote here in 2024 while voters supported GOP Sen Ted Cruz by a more than 2-1 margin over Democratic challenger Colin Allred there are no recent results for popular commented articles Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist  Get a link to the latest e-Edition delivered to your inbox on our publication days Start your morning with the top headlines each day Get the latest breaking news from The Lufkin News newsroom. Sign up today!  college and national sports headlines delivered to your inbox every morning Get the latest local and national police reports every day in your inbox Receive the daily weather forecast and the weekly outlook in your inbox each morning Receive the most recent obituaries every afternoon Receive monthly updates on the latest issues of Charm East Texas magazine Sign up to receive emails about our exciting Deals Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account Scattered thunderstorms during the evening Incumbent Nacogdoches Mayor Randy Johnson leads after early voting City of Nacogdoches voters reelected Mayor Randy Johnson and Nacogdoches ISD voters elected Cheryl Brady for an at-large seat on the school board according to unofficial results released Saturday night by the county elections office received 1,257 votes against challenge Brigette Kozash “I’m grateful to this city for the opportunity to continue the work we have going,” Johnson said in a statement after results were released serving as mayor is one of the greatest honors of my life I look forward to what we can accomplish together in the next two years.”  Kozash issued a statement congratulating Johnson and thanking those who supported her campaign for being my biggest fan and pep talker,” she said “I am looking forward to continue to organize mutual aid initiatives and working closely with my community.”  Results are considered unofficial until they are canvassed by the council and school board County election officials said there are not enough outstanding mail or provisional ballots to change any of the races Another 136 ballots were cast for Demond Jackson who dropped out of the race to support Ruckel Jackson suspended his campaign past the deadline to remove his name from the ballot “I am grateful to God and to our community for the opportunity to serve on the NISD school board,” Brady said in a statement Saturday “I look forward to helping engage our community our teachers and our institutions in full support of our school district That is the challenge that is ahead of us and I am eager to get to work.”  The at-large position on the school board is being vacated by Trustee Kallie Pitcock Garrison ISD voters reelected Trustees Justin Shull and Matt Barrett to two seats on the board Barrett received 100 and challenger Floyd Rambin received 77 Jacob Permenter and Rob Czekner were reelected by voters Permenter received 79 and challenger Shane Babbs received 41 In the special election in Emergency Service District No more than 75% of voters supported a proposed property tax increase from 3 cents per $100 valuation to 10 cents One hundred and four ballots were cast in favor with 33 against Cushing and Sacul volunteer fire departments has had the same tax rate since May 2002 and is expecting increased expenses in the coming year because of a new countywide radio system and the need to replace pieces of equipment Nicole Bradford's email is nicole.bradford@dailysentinel.com Email notifications are only sent once a day Get a link to the latest e-Edition delivered to your inbox on our publication days Would you like to receive our daily news? Signup today Get the latest breaking news from The Daily Sentinel newsroom Get the latest local and national police report updates every day in your inbox  Receive monthly updates on the latest issues of Charm East Texas magazine Sign up to receive emails about our exciting Deals Micah Lockett cleared seven feet on the long jump to claim the state title Friday Micah Lockett stands on the podium after winning first place at the state track meet After placing fourth at last year’s state meet Nacogdoches junior Micah Lockett returned to the UIL State Track and Field Championships with redemption on his mind He delivered on that goal Friday morning by clearing seven feet in the high jump to claim the state title In a recent interview with the Daily Sentinel Lockett said he believed the experience from last year’s meet would help him this time around “I was really just trying to stay focused the day before,” Lockett said Nathan Hague’s email address is sports@dailysentinel.com Nacogdoches Medical center is disputing its 2025 Leapfrog ratings Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital and Nacogdoches Medical Center share a C rating from one of the nation’s top health care watchdog groups in a report released this week The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade results for spring 2025 were publicly released Thursday Memorial welcomed its rising score as a sign of improvement following years of poor results The report shows that conditions at Memorial have improved since the Nacogdoches County Hospital District retook control of operations in March 2024 the hospital needed a lot of work,” McCabe said and they worked tirelessly to get this facility up to par.” Nacogdoches Medical Center disputes what it considers to be “inaccurate corrupt and dangerous rankings” said Patti Tanner “Leapfrog’s scoring system deceives patients and rewards hospitals that either pay them or supply free data for their flawed survey while punishing those that do not participate with inaccurate scores based on fabricated data,” Tanner said “We are constantly working to improve patient safety and quality care but these false ratings undermine the doctor-hospital-patient relationship that is essential to positive health outcomes.” Medical Center had refused to provide some data to Leapfrog Leapfrog grades more than 2,500 hospitals on safety with a score of A through F administrators and board members are considering updating software to further improve its ratings The majority of the hospital’s challenges — from safety ratings to revenue and physician recruitment — can be traced back to the hospital’s decades-old system The reports ranked both hospitals highly for doctors The Memorial report noted poor ratings in patient falls and blood clots among other issues Medical Center had a higher-than-average number of deaths from serious treatable complications following surgery and higher-than-average numbers of infections Medical Center’s Leapfrog rating fluctuated between C and B since 2023 Memorial’s rating marks an improvement over the past two years including an F rating in Spring 2023 under former owner Lion Star Memorial was one of only 12 hospitals in the nation to receive an F rating at that time The hospital district regained control of Memorial after Lion Star began Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings Creditors received word in April that the proceedings have changed to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy Andrew Hodge’s email is andrew.hodge@dailysentinel.com Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInNACOGDOCHES Texas (KTRE) - Manager of Ruby’s Mexican Restaurant in Tyler learned Friday that one’s whole life can change in the blink of an eye “I know accidents happen and I know things happen Salazar and her crew bring the taste of Ruby’s to different cities with their food truck where an 18-wheeler crashed into their setup injuring her staff and people standing in line “We have three employees that were tossed around in the food truck Salazar says her staff and one customer were taken to Nacogdoches Medical Center for treatment We still don’t know why the semi crashed into the food truck but Salazar says no one was behind the wheel “One of the customers or guys from the shop came running saying nobody was in the truck and we turn around and the man was running from down the road,” said Salazar Salazar says the truck came from across the street with no driver and crashed into them Salazar says this won’t keep them from serving again “We do what we do because we love what we do We’re a big family and we have each other’s backs,” said Salazar Ruby’s said in a Facebook post Friday that their food truck is a loss they plan to come back to Nacogdoches for business while our Ruby’s Food Truck was parked and operating serving our valued customers in Nacogdoches our staff was working and customers were being attended Several have been impacted and transported to a local hospital for evaluation and care We humbly ask for your prayers during this difficult time — for the healing we have closed our Nacogdoches location for the rest of the day is among two dozen Texas locations shuttered this month The Oldest Town in Texas is no longer part of DQ Country It had been Nacogdoches’ only remaining Dairy Queen since a South Street location closed in 2019 to make way for highway construction “It has been our honor and pleasure to serve this neighborhood for the past several years we are closing,” a sign posted at the location Monday read A total of 24 Dairy Queen locations in Texas closed this month with contents of the stores listed for auction “Multiple Dairy Queen locations are closing their doors and must liquidate the assets,” online auction website localauctions.com states “Bid on a large variety of restaurant assets and related items that need to be removed from the location.” Bidding in the multi-location restaurant liquidation auction is underway and ends at noon Thursday at online.localauctions.com/auction/11465/bidgallery “We understand our local store was one of many the franchisee chose to close,” Nacogdoches Economic Development Corp Executive Director Larissa Philpot-Brown said but look forward to assisting a new business redevelop the property.” For Nacogdoches residents craving a Blizzard or DQ Dip Cone the nearest locations are on North John Redditt Drive in Lufkin 69 in Huntington or Tenaha Street in Center Jacksonville in Cherokee County remains a two-Dairy-Queen town Texas Dairy Queen locations with equipment for auction are: Nicole Bradford’s email is nicole.bradford@dailysentinel.com The Social Security Administration office in University Plaza mall is set to close NACOGDOCHES — A rarely used Social Security Administration hearings office in Nacogdoches is expected to be closed following the termination of its lease as part of a broader push to downsize the department by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency The closing is expected to save the federal government $86,414 but it is unclear over what time period that money would be saved The building in Nacogdoches is infrequently staffed and employees who work there on occasion are based in the administrations’ Lufkin office The Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday although the closure appears to be part of a longterm downsizing effort that has moved services from Nacogdoches to Lufkin over the course of nearly 15 years The office in the University Plaza mall was used by the Office of Hearings Operations for appeals hearings The Social Security Administration opened an office at the mall in 2011 after it shuttered its location in the Mize Building in downtown A gradual relocation of employees to Lufkin began around 2007 The closest Social Security Administration office is at 702 E The Department of Government Efficiency is a cost-cutting task force headed by Musk DOGE has been involved in sweeping actions including mass firings of government employees and freezing federal funding The Nacogdoches office is one of 10 Social Security Administration locations being shuttered by DOGE around the nation has more than 1,200 regional and field offices — nearly a fifth of all of the federal government’s offices nationwide The offices receive 119,000 visitors every business day President Donald Trump reiterated during a press conference this month that “Social Security will not be touched” by Musk’s nongovernmental task force the agency itself does not seem to be included in Trump’s guarantee White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized “fake news reporters” for “fear-mongering” about Social Security’s future under the Trump administration She said that Musk is only going after fraud and waste in the program Several independent analyses of DOGE ledgers have found glaring accounting mistakes 41 jobs in the administration were eliminated nationwide According to emails shared with nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica staff members had eight hours to decide if they wanted to request another job within the agency and relocation expenses would not be covered These emails appear to have gone out largely to Social Security Administration policy staff and lawyers including those who help administrative judges write decisions in disability cases — decisions that may now take longer and potentially have more errors in them as a result “Claimants will have adverse effects in terms of delay and also losing benefits that they might otherwise be entitled to,” said the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation Social Security disability cases already have huge backlogs at the hearing stage often taking more than a year according to the agency Regional staff do not yet appear to have been affected by DOGE’s layoffs said that “nobody knows how the RIF [Reduction in Force] is going to work” in the coming days Employees fear that offices could be closed at the same time that remote staff are ordered to return to an office creating a situation in which some SSA employees will face multiple-hour commutes each way every day all but forcing them to leave their jobs and thus stop serving beneficiaries a council president for the American Federation of Government Employees LaPointe represents Social Security’s field office and teleservice workers so that they don’t have to explicitly do as many layoffs,” LaPointe said The agency is already the most overworked and demoralized of nearly any across the federal government Eli Hager of Pro Publica contributed to this report Andrew Hodge's email address is andrew.hodge@dailysentinel.com The Storm Prediction Center has issued a Tornado Watch effective until 8 this evening for much of Deep East Texas as well as adjacent areas of the Brazos Valley This watch includes the cities of Lufkin, Nacogdoches Thunderstorms are expected to rapidly develop and intensify across the watch area throughout this afternoon Conditions across the Pineywoods will be favorable for the development of strong to severe storms Some of these storms may produce a few tornadoes, a couple of which could be intense (EF2 or greater) Damaging winds gusting to over 50 mph and large hail events are also possible from Bryan/College Station to the Pineywoods READ MORE: Wild Video of Storm Chasers Getting Caught Inside A Tornado Severe thunderstorms have been developing throughout the mid-morning hours across north-central and northeast Texas These systems are expected to push southeastward increasing the severe storm threat for Deep East Texas today and Thursday A tornado watch was issued earlier today for northeast Texas and the ArkLaTex A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area People in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings.  Download our station app to have weather alerts sent to your smartphone A tornado watch is in effect for much of Deep East Texas until 8 this evening.\nRead More The Storm Prediction Center has issued a Tornado Watch effective until 8 this evening for much of Deep East Texas This watch includes the cities of Lufkin, Nacogdoches Thunderstorms are expected to rapidly develop and intensify across the watch area throughout this afternoon Some of these storms may produce a few tornadoes, a couple of which could be intense (EF2 or greater) READ MORE: Wild Video of Storm Chasers Getting Caught Inside A Tornado This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page May 2, 2025 | ARTS + CULTURE, REFLECTIONS Aldi was the successful bidder for the lease of the former Big Lots property at 4919 North St Suite 101 in the Nacogdoches Marketplace II shopping center according to a Columbus Business First article The departure of Nacogdoches’ Big Lots store has opened the door for one of the fastest growing grocers in the country to bring its curated selection of house-brand products to our neighbors across the river Aldi was the successful bidder for the lease of the property at 4919 North St boasts of offering the lowest prices of any national grocery store More than 50 job openings for the upcoming Nacogdoches store have been posted by Aldi during the last two weeks The Nacogdoches Marketplace II shopping center was built in 2007 and features approximately 84,000 square feet of retail space Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and affiliates of the Burlington chain in acquiring auctioned-off leases of shuttered Big Lots stores during the discount retailer's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Hundreds of Big Lots stores are expected to remain open after the chain closed a sale agreement with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC earlier this month Stacy Faison's email address is stacy.faison@lufkindailynews.com A worker walks along a piece of the flyover at U.S Highway 59 and Loop 224 in Nacogdoches in April 2024 Construction will last at least two more years on the project NACOGDOCHES — The highway construction project at Nacogdoches’ South Loop 224 and U.S Highway 59 is a little less than two years away from completion according to the latest update from the Texas Department of Transportation the $86.9 million intersection reconfiguration was expected to take four years Weather delays and supply and labor shortages created by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed that date to 2025 and completion was again reset last year to 2026 TxDOT Lufkin District public information officer Rhonda Oaks said passersby will see continued paving work on the southbound frontage road and main lanes near Spradley as well as construction of bridge elements on Loop 224 but no major traffic shifts are expected this winter “Traffic is expected to remain in its current configuration until at least spring 2025,” Oaks said One of the most traffic congested areas of town the Loop 224 and Highway 59 intersection is being brought up to interstate standards which means traffic on 59 will have a direct connector to Loop 224 The project is the first of many that will eventually create Interstate 69 through East Texas on its way from Mexico to Canada Ongoing I-69 projects in the area include relief routes in Diboll and Corrigan and the construction of frontage roads in Redland Another major project — a $259 million reconstruction the Highway 59 and 259 intersection is entering the right-of-way acquisition phase this year Expected to displace 15 homes and 10 commercial properties that project isn’t slated to break ground until 2029 it will include access roads and direct ramp connectors isn’t expected to begin construction until 2034 Nicole Bradford’s email address is nicole.bradford@dailysentinel.com Geological Survey shows where Friday night’s earthquake was felt A small earthquake rocked the area west of Lake Nacogdoches on Friday night around 5 miles south of Douglass and around 10 miles west of Nacogdoches The quake was measured at an estimated 3.5 magnitude on the Richter scale That level of earthquake is typically felt by individuals nearby but rarely causes damage and over 130,000 are estimated to occur every year globally Residents in the area were encouraged to turn off gas supply lines by officials No injuries have been reported in connection with the quake as of Tuesday said sheriff’s office spokesman Tim Monzingo The last recorded earthquake in the county was a 2.6 magnitude earthquake Dec A 3.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded Sept there were eight quakes reported in the area Seven quakes were recorded in 2012 — the strongest of which was a 4.8 reported May 17 Nacogdoches ISD approved the use of a controversial new state curriculum that has been criticized by civil rights organizations for its references to Christianity and biblical teachings which provides curriculum for language arts from kindergarten through fifth grade and math from kindergarten through Algebra 1 was unanimously approved by the district’s board of trustees during its regular meeting Thursday A coalition of civil rights organizations asserted that adopting the curriculum would “unlawfully impose a set of religious beliefs upon your students and violate their constitutionally guaranteed right to be free from religious coercion” in a letter addressed to superintendents and school boards throughout the state which have long fought for religious freedom for all will closely monitor any school district across the state that considers implementing the Bluebonnet curriculum and will take any action that is necessary and appropriate to protect the rights of Texas children and their parents,” a portion of the letter reads The proposed curriculum would prompt teachers to relay the story of The Good Samaritan — a parable about loving everyone including your enemies — to kindergarteners as an example of what it means to follow the Golden Rule Many other religions have their own version of the Golden Rule A fifth-grade lesson on Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” challenges students to consider “how the disciples may have felt upon hearing Jesus telling them about his betrayal and death.” References to other religions are also included A second grade lesson highlights the Jewish celebration of Purim A fourth grade poetry unit includes Kshemendra a poet from India who “studied Buddhism and Hinduism.” Gabriel Trujillo acknowledged that the curriculum will have “some opposition” at the state level but said the number of references to Christianity are “extremely minimal.” “This is not Sunday school,” Trujillo said “This is a full-fledged curriculum that was written in partnership with educators.” NISD trustee Leabeth Abt said she had not seen any indication that Nacogdoches ISD parents would be opposed to the new curriculum “I’m not getting a feel that controversy is here,” Abt said “I’ve heard from no parents whatsoever that this state-written curriculum has Bible stories in it and they don’t seem to fear that we’re going to turn them all into Christians.” The assertion that Nacogdoches parents would not have objections to the curriculum was “maddening,” said Dr Austin State University whose children attended Nacogdoches ISD “This is an overt act on the part of first the state and then the school board to proselytize and evangelize Christianity which is a violation of the constitution,” Beal said While stories from the Bible are present in the curriculum their inclusion is not intended to proselytize “The argument that there are more examples of Bible stories than other religions forgets that our culture — North America — is overwhelmingly Western Civilization in orientation and that means the roots of our literature and philosophy reach deeply into the Greeks and Judeo-Christian heritage they must have knowledge of biblical literature,” Abt said The curriculum includes a suite of resources that address a need identified by Nacogdoches ISD teachers in 2023 “The selection of Bluebonnet involved NISD teachers and campus administrators all part of a process that lasted several months,” Linebarger said “While we’re using the state-provided curriculum Nacogdoches ISD still has complete control over what sections we choose to use.” The district has a financial incentive to use Bluebonnet Learning The state will offer $60 per student annually for districts that adopt the curriculum “The state is actually paying us a portion to use this curriculum,” Trujillo said “If we went with any other HQIM (High Quality Instructional Material) that’s out there then there might possibly be a cost (for the materials).” The financial incentive paired with the curriculum places underfunded public school districts in a difficult position “The state is literally bribing school districts,” Beal said “I can be frustrated with Nacogdoches ISD — and I certainly am — and also see that they may feel backed into a corner.” James Hockenberry recommended his district not use the curriculum during its February meeting The curriculum is one of several steps the state government has taken in recent years that has prompted concern about the introduction of Christianity in the classroom has supported a Senate bill that would require schools to post the Ten Commandments on classroom walls Legislators passed a law in 2021 requiring public schools to display donated posters with the message “In God We Trust.” The Legislature passed a measure last year allowing volunteer chaplains to provide mental health services to students Nacogdoches ISD’s board voted in 2024 not to permit chaplains to serve in the role of counselors The Texas Tribune contributed to this report Protesters rallying against a recent operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Nacogdoches hold up flags and signs during a protest Sunday in Lufkin A second protest is planned for Saturday in Nacogdoches Daisy Sequeda and Brianna de la Cruz hold signs during a protest against a Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Nacogdoches on Sunday in Lufkin A protester holds up a sign and a Mexican flag during a protest against federal immigration policy Sunday in Lufkin Protestors hold signs and flags during a protest against federal immigration policies Sunday at 400 North Timberland Drive in Lufkin Hundreds of Nacogdoches and Angelina County residents gathered Sunday in Lufkin to protest changes to federal immigration policy and Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in East Texas that organizers say have sent shockwaves of fear and anxiety through the Hispanic community held on the side of the road at 400 North Timberland Drive in Lufkin drew more than 300 people with signs and flags A second protest has been planned for 3 p.m Saturday in the 1700 block of North Street across from the Stephen F Austin State University campus in Nacogdoches Individuals in Nacogdoches County were targeted by Enforcement and Removal Operations officers last week said Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tim Monzingo and the sheriff’s office was not involved,” Monzingo said Nacogdoches Police Department declined to comment on the operation we don’t comment on the operations of other law enforcement agencies,” said Sgt Additional details on the specifics of the operation were not available A spokesman for ICE did not provide details of the operation The operation is part of an increase in activity that began shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January The Trump administration gave federal officers a national quota to arrest at least 1,200 people who are in the country without legal permission every day — double the highest daily average in the past 10 years They’re not going to work or to the store,” Morales said Detaining violent criminals who have entered the country illegally makes sense but the recent changes are hurting families who have done nothing wrong Stop separating these kids from their families.” People who have crossed the border without permission can be prosecuted for illegal entry legally but overstayed their visa have violated administrative immigration rules Federal courts have also ruled that living in the U.S White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the U.S government now considers people without legal permission to entry the country criminals — whether or not they have been convicted of a crime “I know the last administration didn’t see it that way so it’s a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal but that’s exactly what they are,” she said Neighbors need to look after each other as rhetoric surrounding immigration shifts “I think America is going in a very bad direction,” Morales said I believe this protest shows that we are all a community The diverse group of people who joined the protest Sunday exceeded the organizers expectations “It’s amazing and beautiful to see all the people out here who are coming out to raise their voice for those who can’t,” Velasquez said