By Kelly Brewington Baltimore Sun July 1, 2008

Hoisting signs that read, "Don't divide our families," about 75 immigrant advocates held a rally in Baltimore this morning to protest an immigration raid yesterday. The raid on an Annapolis painting company resulted in the arrest of 46 suspected illegal immigrants.

"Every person affected yesterday has a family," said Jessica Alvarez, vice president of the National Capital Immigrant Coalition. "Today we are here to show that every person has a voice and has a community behind them. This is unjust, and our voices need to be heard."

The rally was held at Hopkins Plaza, in front of the Baltimore offices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Priests with the Baltimore archdiocese offered prayers for the families in both Spanish and English, and a local immigration attorney said he would represent for free any of the workers who could not afford attorneys.

"We are very concerned about what happened," said Jonathan Greene, a Baltimore attorney and member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Acting on a tip yesterday, more than 120 officers, including 75 federal agents and 50 Anne Arundel police officers, participated in simultaneous early morning raids on Annapolis Painting Services Inc. and 15 area homes, which police say were rented to employees by the company's owner.

In addition to the 46 arrests, agents also seized five bank accounts, 11 vehicles and more than a dozen homes as part of a criminal investigation into hiring and harboring illegal immigrants. The company's owners were not arrested, but authorities said the investigation was continuing.