A South Los Angeles medical clinic is initiating a lawsuit against the U. S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP) in an effort to stop recent border patrol roundups of undocumented immigrants throughout Southern California.

St. John's Well Child and Family Center wants an injunction to prevent the BCBP, a division of the Homeland Security Department, from conducting raids in the vicinity of any of the six clinics it operates in Los Angeles' low-income neighborhoods.

"These raids are creating a crisis in public health making patients afraid to access the clinics," said Jim Mangia, CEO of St. John's. "They are also interfering with the business of a federally qualified health center by preventing the center from receiving health reimbursements for seeing patients and creating a business crisis."

Mangia said border agents set up checkpoints and conducted raids in areas surrounding the clinics, creating a climate of fear among patients. "Some employees of the clinic were stopped and questioned at the bust stop around the corner" by border agents, he said.

In June alone the clinics had more than 600 cancellations creating "the lowest month ever of patient visits," said Mangia.

Border agents have also been noticed setting up checkpoints around heavily Latino schools, noted Sister of Social Service Diane Donoghue, executive director of the Esperanza Community Housing Corporation located on the grounds of St. Vincent School in Los Angeles.

Naya Bloom, director of the Healthy Start program at Norwood Street School in Los Angeles, said she has "been notified by parents that immigration set up across from the school at pickup time."

Investigations have shown that the border raids are "being conducted by the Mobile Patrol Group, which consists of twelve agents stationed in Temecula in Riverside County," said Sister Donoghue. In addition to the central Los Angeles area, the raids have been concentrated in the Inland Valley cities of Ontario, Riverside and San Bernadino and in some San Diego County Communities.

"This group was issued a cease and desist order by the Undersecretary of State on June 18, but on June 20 they were still conducting the raids," said Sister Donoghue.

"This is a dangerous precedent when law enforcement officers are disobeying the orders of superiors and think they are above the law," noted Mangia. "If the issue is terrorism, why aren't they patrolling the borders? There are no terrorists in East Los Angeles taking their kids to get immunization shots. There is no reason for this other than harassment and creating fear in communities."

On June 25 Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson met with a group of California legislators, and acknowledged during the meeting that the border agents had broken department policy which requires agents to clear these types of operations with Washington headquarters before taking action.

Cardinal Roger Mahony has requested meeting with the U. S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to discuss the raids, which hit close to home for many parishes in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

"Recent interior activity has generated fear, confusion and anger throughout the Hispanic neighborhoods in Southern California, said Cardinal Mahony in a letter to the BCBP. "Sadly, there are those who have exploited the fear and confusion, magnifying the negative impact."

Tod Tamberg, archdiocesan media relations director, said both senators and immigration officials are now working out a date to schedule the meeting.