As many as 11 families are now being held in detention as the government earnestly kicked off its plan to find and deport Central American migrants who once sought refuge in the U.S. and have stayed here illegally.

The Los Angeles Times reports that unlike immigration raids of the past, agents this time around do not plan to conduct workplace raids or other mass enforcement actions, instead targeting addresses for families with deportation orders.

In Norcross, Ga., on Saturday, Joanna Gutierrez lamented her niece and said her 9-year-old son were both taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. She added the officers arrived in an unmarked car and presented Gutierrez with a warrant for a man she didn't know.

"They were shaking from fear," Gutierrez said of her children, who were all awaken by the agents conducting searches of every room.

Gutierrez's niece, Ana Lizet Mejia, illegally entered the U.S. in the summer of 2014, fleeing from her native Honduras, where he brother had been killed by the gangs.

"Attempting to unlawfully enter the United States as a family unit does not protect individuals from being subject to the immigration laws of this country," said an official with the Department of Homeland Security. "ICE will continue to pursue the removal of persons who fall within DHS immigration enforcement priorities, including families who are recent unlawful border crossers and who are subject to final orders of removal."

Sources added Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now working to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, hinting that the deportations are part of an overall plan aimed at convincing migrants that entering the country illegally is a "fruitless" exercise.

Immigrant advocates, however, question the government's logic in prioritizing a plan that calls for nonviolent migrants to be deported and minors to be held at facilities many deem as unsuitable for them.

"We think they are gathering people at the Atlanta field office," said Adelina Nicholls of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights. "We have no idea what's going on there. That's not a location to accommodate children."

In Texas, six Central American families thus far detained in the raids are expected to be brought by Monday to the South Texas Family Residential Center near San Antonio.

Mohammad Abdollahi, a spokesman for the legal advocacy group RAICES, said his San Antonio based organization has been contacting family members of those being held at the centers to ensure they know their rights.

"We've been calling a lot of the families that may have orders of removal to make sure they know they have legal counsel," he said.