In exchange, police provided protection and tips regarding impending federal raids and helped keep criminals free by refusing to extradite them elsewhere.
The millions without documents live in constant fear: a campaign of federal raids has spread panic and shattered families.
There have also been federal raids on illegal immigrants.
The former county seat of Sparta was burned in a federal raid during the Civil War.
Investors, already concerned about a federal raid at a Tenet hospital in California last week, reacted nervously to the disclosure.
Since the June 4, 2007 federal raid, Vang Pao's arrest had been the subject of mounting criticism.
The group was the repeated target of federal raids such as Operation Fastlink.
The ensuing investigation has generated three class-action lawsuits, two wrongful death lawsuits, and several federal raids.
The reunion followed an armed federal raid on the relatives' home in Miami in the predawn hours of April 22.
The government has contended that calls from reporters tipped off the charities to impending federal raids and asset seizures.
