The Hispanic Caucus: Immigration confirmed that the arrests of undocumented immigrants have been "wider"

The Acting Chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed to the Hispanic Caucus that recent arrests of undocumented immigrants are part of a "larger effort" against undocumented migrants with criminal records or suspected Criminal activities.

Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham told NBC that he spoke with the head of ICE after members of the Hispanic Caucus were not allowed to attend an agency meeting with members of Congress.

"I'm very worried about the raids because they mean a turn," Lujan Grisham said.

Democratic lawmakers accused the government of President Donald Trump and the Republicans of keeping the caucus out of the meeting.

Caucus members had requested the meeting to obtain information on who was the target of the raids and whether the framework was broader than the one that was applied during the presidency of Barack Obama.

After being scheduled on Tuesday, the meeting was abruptly canceled by ICE. A Republican leadership adviser said that ICE then approached the House of Representatives office Paul Ryan to organize a bipartisan meeting, which they set for Thursday.

The CHC members had tried to attend Thursday's Capitol meeting despite not being on the guest list, but were asked to leave, which prompted them to hold a press conference in protest.

While ICE insists it will continue to carry out migratory operations as it has done to date, fear has grown among the Hispanic immigrant community in the United States.