Immigration Raids
American Citizens Illegally Detained and Deported
You probably can't imagine the horror and frustration of being detained in a jail cell just waiting to be deported—separated from your friends, family and your job—knowing full well you are an American citizen with every right to live in this country. According to a recent AP article, however, this gross injustice has been the reality for literally hundreds of US citizens. In a drive to crack down on illegal immigrants, the United States has locked up or thrown out dozens, probably many more, of its own citizens over the past eight years. A monthslong AP investigation has documented 55 such cases, on the basis of interviews, lawsuits and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. These citizens are detained for anything from a day to five years. Immigration lawyers say there are actually hundreds of such cases. Read More
ICE Agent Sues ICE Agents for Storming His House
We've heard the stories about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents terrorizing immigrant families by kicking in doors in the middle of the night and separating mothers and fathers from their children. However, in an ironic twist, Customs and Border Protection Officer Jim Slaughter is filing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security after ICE agents showed up at his doorstep and demanded to search his home. According to Slaughter: "My wife said is this candid camera and that kind of ticked him off a little bit and he says no mam you need to step back... I said do you realize I'm a U.S. Customs K-9 officer at San Luis, Arizona and they all just froze. The lead agent, his eyes got real big, and he's like what? You are?" Read More
Moving Beyond the Failed Immigration-Enforcement Legacy of the Bush Era
A new report from America's Voice highlights both the immense challenge and enormous opportunity confronting the Obama administration as it devises a new approach to immigration enforcement that moves beyond the failures of the Bush era. As the report describes, Bush attempted to burnish his immigration-enforcement bona fides by "getting tough" on undocumented workers rather than the employers who exploit them. While families and communities were torn apart through worksite raids, most of the employers who willfully violated both labor and immigration laws for the sake of higher profits walked away with the corporate equivalent of parking tickets. Moreover, while federal agents and specially deputized state and local police officers chased down run-of-the-mill undocumented immigrants, scarce law-enforcement resources were diverted away from the pursuit and prosecution of violent criminals. Read More
Citizen Children Neglected and Deserted in Wake of Immigration Raids
Miguel is a US citizen child who grew up in Minnesota like any other little American boy. But his parents are undocumented workers from El Salvador who worked at the Swift plant in Worthington, MN. On December 12, 2006, the plant was raided by ICE, and more than 200 workers were detained, including Miguel's mother. Miguel returned home from second grade that day to discover that his mother and father were not there and that his two-year-old brother was left alone. For the next week, Miguel stayed home caring for his brother-with no information about what had happened to his parents. A week after the raid, Miguel's grandmother arrived to care for her grandchildren. When Miguel returned to school, his teacher reported that this previously "happy little boy" had become "absolutely catatonic." His performance slipped and his grades plummeted. Read More
New CIS Study: Easy Answers and Half-Baked Solutions
Photo from flickr. BY: AMBER SPARKS, UFCW A new report by the Center for Immigration Studies is a perfect illustration of the misinterpretation and manipulation of data to reach a totally biased and flawed conclusion-and clearly demonstrates a complete lack of understanding about the history of the meatpacking industry. Immigrants worldwide have been essential in strengthening the U.S. meatpacking industry, by organizing around increased wages and improved industry standards. But during the ‘80's, something happened. Consolidation, mergers, and company-induced strikes helped drive down wages for meatpackers. During the strikes, companies aggressively recruited strike breakers-not immigrants but individuals who came from the decimated farm industry-to cross the picket lines. Read More
CIS Inadvertently Makes the Case for Legalizing Undocumented Workers
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) today released a report which, quite inadvertently, makes an excellent case for comprehensive immigration reform that legalizes undocumented immigrants already living and working in the United States. The report analyzes the high-profile federal immigration raids that were conducted on December 12, 2006, at six Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, and Utah. According to the report, wages and working conditions for Swift & Co. workers improved in the aftermath of the raids as more lawfully present immigrants and U.S. citizens joined the company's labor force. The report rightly concludes from the example of Swift & Co. that wages and working conditions improve "when illegal immigrant labor is removed from the workplace." Read More
Pelosi Joins the Hispanic Caucus’ Call for Reform, Not Raids
This past weekend, House Speaker Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took a stand on immigration raids and met hundreds of families Saturday evening at a church in San Francisco's Mission District to demand an end to deportations and the separation of families. Pelosi's stop was part of a larger, 17-city national "Family Unity" tour led by leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in response to immigration raids. An estimated 3.1 million US citizen children have at least one parent who is undocumented. Many others have at least one parent who is a permanent legal resident who can be subject to deportation for minor legal infractions or errors while filing for a change of immigration status. Every year thousands of children are either separated from a parent who has been deported, or forced into exile. Read More
Congress Should Leave Community Policing to the Police
Over the last several years, Members of Congress who oppose comprehensive immigration reform have cast themselves as the law-and-order crowd, and mostly gotten away with it. But they went too far when they set their sights on attacking state and local police. By trying to punish local law enforcement agencies that refuse to put the deportation of undocumented workers before the arrest and prosecution of dangerous criminals, they're exposing what really motivates their policy proposals: concern over dishwashers and day laborers, not the safety of American communities. Read More
Bush Immigration Enforcement Tactics Haunt the Obama Era
On Tuesday ICE raided the Yamato Engine Specialists plant in Bellingham, Washington. The ICE agents arrested 28 people - 25 men and 3 women - for allegedly using fake Social Security documents to gain employment. It was the first worksite raid since President Obama took office. ICE claims the raid was the result of an ongoing investigation into the worksite, apparently after two "gang members" led agents to begin the investigation. The next day, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano appeared at a hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee and stated she had been unaware of the raid before it happened and ordered a review of the action. Last month Napolitano had issued a directive ordering an internal review of multiple immigration enforcement initiatives within DHS. While the report to Napolitano was due on February 20, it has not been made public. Read More
ICE Raids in Bellingham, WA Raise More Than Just Eyebrows
Yesterday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials raided Yamato Engine Specialists Ltd. in Bellingham, WA, where 28 workers, including three women, were detained and placed in deportation proceedings. This is the first workplace raid conducted by ICE we are aware of since President Obama took office. Under the Bush Administration, ICE raided nearly 5,173 immigrants in 2008 alone. Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
