By Lornet Turnbull
Seattle Times staff reporter
The Obama administration is demanding answers from local immigration-enforcement agents who raided an engine plant in Bellingham, arrested 28 illegal immigrant workers and began the process to deport them.
The work-site raid at Yamato Engine Specialists by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday was the first since President Obama took office. It also is believed to be the first time in this era of heightened immigration enforcement that a presidential administration has publicly demanded a review of the actions of officers in the field.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told lawmakers during a Wednesday hearing in Washington, D.C., that she did not know about the raid before it happened.
She has asked ICE for answers.
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