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No Legals Swept Up in Raids, DHS Says
I just spoke with a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While most of the 1,282 workers arrested and transported to "processing centers" have been processed in "Operation Wagon Train," their multi-state raid, Michael Keegan told me, he has not heard of anyone being released after proving their legal U.S. residency.
"So far we haven't had any reports," he said. (Union officials are complaining that workers aren't allowed to contact them or lawyers.)
I mentioned to Keegan the report from Utah that ICE agents had separated workers by skin color. "Is that right? I can't confirm that," he replied.
He added that such a process was "definitely not standard operating procedure. . . that's not the way ICE operates."
As for the children left behind when DHS detained their parents and family members, Keegan said that in most cases the children could be looked after by another family member. "In a very small amount of cases we released individuals with a notice to appear [at an administrative deportation hearing], because nobody was available to take care of their child," he said. He didn't know how many times that happened, he said, but it was extremely rare.
Comments (7)
Brad Johnson wrote on December 13, 2006 5:58 PM:I really don't like the use of "legal" as a noun.
Especially in the context of describing a person.
Jalmari wrote on December 13, 2006 7:18 PM:Any word on whether any company files, computers or assets were seized? Any word on whether the corporation will be dissolved, and its officers imprisoned for illegal hiring practices? Any word on how many millions of dollars of fines the company will pay?
Any word on how many nonunion companies were raided?
Federal immigration policy is complicated. It's illegal to hire unauthorized workers, but the law isn't generally enforced. After all, it's completely unreasonable to expect a college educated HR professional to spot a fake ID. That's for bartenders. Wink. Nudge. Say no more.
However, to maintain appearances and to keep our workers fearful and compliant, we'll occasionally stage a high profile raid. If it disrupts a union shop, so much the better.
K O wrote on December 14, 2006 4:13 AM:I just love how we don't manage to fine the employers or imprison their management whenever or wherever we find illegals working.
Employers and our government are the main supporters of illegal entry into our country. Now suddenly we're real interested in doing raids, something that was sorely lacking since Bush took office. Again, the reason is our government is all for the hiring of anyone here illegally because they will accept much lower wages without any benefits. In 2005 there was exactly one employer fined for hiring illegals, 2004, 3; 2003, 162; 2002, 53, and 2001, 100. Notice how the numbers kept declining after Bush took office.
I live in a city that had at least five packing plants that paid good wages and benefits. Now they've all closed in favor of moving to smaller towns where they can hire illegals with abandon. The packing plants here were a true melting pot of workers of all stripes and they made a good living for their families. That was maybe twenty years ago. Now they've all closed and the buildings have been leveled.
Now tell me that Americans won't do those jobs IF they receive a fair wage and benefits. Businesses will do anything necessary to cheat the worker even if it means hiring people they know aren't citizens and don't have a work visa.
Oh, did I mean all those packing plants were union? That is another thing the Republicans hate, unions. They have continually passed laws that weaken unions because unions fight employers for a decent day's pay with benefits.
Is it any wonder that a steady stream of people keep arriving here illegally with the blessing of Uncle Sam?
Kathryn in California wrote on December 14, 2006 7:09 PM:What about David Silva's wife? The Denver Post wrote about a David Silva who wasn't allowed to bring his wife's papers while she was still detained at the plant. It wasn't until late that night that she was released.
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