BOISE – The Idaho Community Action Network has denounced early morning raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in central Idaho that resulted in 22 arrests.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho said it is investigating to see if anyone’s civil rights were violated.

“I’ve not heard that anybody had a warrant,” said Jack Van Valkenburgh, executive director of ACLU of Idaho. “I’m trying to get the word out. You don’t need to let (the agents) in if they don’t have a warrant. I don’t think that a lot of people understand their rights.”

Carl Rusnok, an ICE spokesman based in Dallas, acknowledged that no warrants were used, and said agents entered residences with permission.

The pre-dawn raids in Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue on Sept. 15 were carried out by federal agents with the help of the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office, said sheriff’s Detective Steve Harkins.

He said the raids were meant to find undocumented immigrants with criminal convictions, previous deportations, or people who had been asked to leave the country but remained.

Of the 22 people arrested, Rusnok said, 13 were from Peru and nine from Mexico. He said four of the 22 were classified as fugitives because they had ignored orders to leave the country, and that they were the target of the operation.

He said the other 18 were determined to be in the country illegally.

“This was a targeted operation,” Rusnok told the Associated Press on Friday. “All of our operations are targeted to go after specific individuals. During the course of the operation we may also encounter and arrest others we determine to be in the country illegally.”

He said that of the nine people from Mexico, eight chose to voluntarily return to that country, and one was deported. All of them were taken to the Mexico border on Tuesday, he said.

Of the 13 Peruvians arrested, Rusnok said, three were classified as fugitives. Of those three, two are being held at a detention center in Florence, Ariz., and one was released on an order of supervision because that person had children to take care of, Rusnok said.

Of the other 10 Peruvians, five bonded out and must appear before a federal immigration judge.

The remaining five were being held in Florence, Rusnok said, with two of them having accepted stipulated deportation, and the three others issued notices to appear before a federal immigration judge.

“It is clear that ICE agents terrorized the community, including U.S. citizen children who were sleeping when the raid occurred,” said Leo Morales, a community organizer for ICAN, at a meeting Tuesday in Hailey.