Secretary Chertoff, Call Off These Raids
Driven by the most savage talk radio and cable news anti-immigrant propaganda campaign in our nation's history, the Department of Homeland Security has unleashed an unprecedented crackdown on undocumented workers. In an effort not seen since the panic unleashed by the Great Depression, federal law enforcement has been targeting technically illegal workers who have been long tolerated in industries like meat packing, poultry processing and agriculture. In the terror created, fruit trees are being cut down and fields lie fallow, for want of traditional workers.
Many hundreds of otherwise law abiding, hard working, family men and women have been arrested in recent weeks under circumstances more appropriate to operations targeting al Qaeda. With noise and fury, these heavily armed and armored SWAT teams from ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are surrounding a particular plant, then with great quasi-military flourish sweeping in to arrest and handcuff the 'aliens', bring them en masse to a hearing, conviction and sentencing, all pending deportation. These completely overdone costume dramas are targeting cowering economic refugees just trying to feed their families. They would be ridiculed as overkill and posturing by any real soldier or cop.
And aside from every humanitarian concern, they violate ICE's own 2007 guidelines regarding the need to consult local social services and church officials, and negotiate a less violent surrender before raids of this magnitude are contemplated; given the tremendously unsettling effect the invasions have on the migrants, their millions of often U.S. citizen spouses and children, and the larger Latino community, which is the nation's largest minority and the victims of twice the hate crime this year from last.
The obscene spectacle is as pathetic and unnecessary as the raid on the Michael Bianco leather goods factory in New Bedford Massachusetts that separated nursing mothers from their children in March 2007, or the Pilgrims Pride Poultry plant raids this year incredibly staged during the pope's recent visit. Bizarrely, those raids were happening at the same moment the pope and president were emphasizing the need for immigration reform in a face-to-face Rose Garden meeting. And why the heavy hand? These are non-violent people. Their crime is almost invariably that they are here, their presence, not that they did anything wrong while they were here. Even minimal physical resistance to authority is rare. The federal government could have as easily sent in a couple of civilian garbed immigration officials and handed out summonses to report to a certain gathering spot to await detention and deportation following a hearing. The vast majority of those honest workers would have shown up without the pathetic show and without the terror gratuitously inflicted on these poor working families.
And what exactly did our heroes under the direction of Secretary Michael Chertoff accomplish? They shut down or severely crippled production at the food plants and fields and orchids, so the nation's food supply has been aversely affected. (The New Bedford plant was sewing knapsacks for our GI's). DHS/ICE has expended millions in executing these operations. They have denied the Social Security trust fund of the millions of dollars these workers were paying into accounts that they have no dream of ever redeeming, because they did not really exist. They have separated working parents from their children, many of whom are citizens. And they have denied the workers' commerce to their communities, many of which have been resurrected by the immigrant's presence in recent years.
I have previously written in His Panic, Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S. that, "any Latino who votes for a Republican or a Democrat who opposes rational immigration reform is an Uncle Tom." In view of the pending Puerto Rico Democratic primary and the island commonwealth's rare opportunity to explain itself and amplify the growing importance in the larger nation's future of the Latino vote; it is time to say to all three candidates that our votes will go to the presidential aspirant who has the courage to defy the mob and call for an immediate cessation of ICE's draconian workplace campaign. Leaving a trail of broken hearts and disrupted communities is not the way to fix America's broken immigration system.
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It has long been a tactic of rulers to pit ethnic or religious groups against one another while they pass laws that line their own pockets. The way we are tightening immigration is creating fear and hysteria. Yes our immigration policy needs to be examined. It is a complex issue. No, we should never give law enforcement the authority to act in a heavy handed, inhumane manner. You can bet it is mostly for political show. I can't believe some of these comments are coming from HuffRpt readers. I thought they were a cut above.
What a bunch. Why, why is it causing fear and hysteria? Name anyone who wrote and article or published anything that said they were fearful or hysterical. I know I'm not. I'm fighting mad. Your blog should have said . The way we are tightening immigration is making people fighting mad'. Another misnomer in your statement is 'we should never give law enforcement the authority to act in a heavy handed, inhumane manner.' To late, when they started training police in a military manner (starting with SWAT), they gave the police the go ahead to be as heavy-handed as they want to be. And that will continue until every American complains to their government(s) about training police in a military manner. You should talk to some police officers, they really think they own you. And if they stop you anywhere, they are willing to prove it.
"...federal law enforcement has been targeting technically illegal workers who have been long tolerated in industries like meat packing, poultry processing and agriculture."
Yes, and that historical toleration is one reason that those industries continue to pay substandard wages, no benefits, treat their employees with contempt, and refuse to invest in mechanization. Will you doe-eyed liberals never understand that businesses are making the products you use on the backs of ill-compensated illegals? Pay American citizens a wage that will attract them to those jobs and watch how fast industry mechanizes.
paying living wages for agricultural and meat processing jobs? what a doe-eyed suggestion.
It should be the individual who decides whether or not they are well enough compensated - not you or the govt.
Yes, Legal Individuals with all the force of their citizen's rights backing them up can negotiate their compensation. But your type of thinking would be akin to having the slaves ask, "could we please, Mr. Slave Master, not be whipped quite so much?"
Not a lot of negotiating room when you have a boot on your throat. I know that scenario appeals to you and all the ultra wealthy Republican Business owners who profit from this slave trade in illegals, but the whole thing is wrong, morally, ethically, and legally.
alleycat5, what individual, the employer who wants to pay less than a living wage and no benefits? What a wierd statement you made.
Geraldo is wrong.
Illegals should go through proper channels or get the hell out of this country.
Geraldo is a racist.
The recent wave of immigration raids has many intentional side-effects in addition to the obvious "publicity stunt" result which is media attention focused on the pretense of BushCo taking some kind of action:
1. The raids are effective in suppressing any attempts at unionization or any type of collective bargaining with the business owners, thereby ensuring the continued virtual slavery of the workers.
2. It provides detainees for the private prison industry which is yet-another consortium of BushCo cronies. George's pals need prisoners to charge the taxpayers for, which is why those being rounded up are not just being deported, but given lengthy sentences in "detention facilities" (prisons) first. We have to keep growing the expense for the cronies to get paid in ever-higher amounts. That's economic growth for the Bush Gang.
3. Along the same lines, don't forget the new "detention facilities" (concentration camps) being built by Halliburton, KBR, and the usual suspects. BushCo has to be sure to hand over many billions to their pals to build the new dungeons and torture chambers to be staffed by the private prison companies (see #2 above) and occupied by the detainees who would otherwise be working or back in their country of origin looking for a way to come back.
4. They still have to try to justify the Great Wall of Texas, another crony enrichment project.
So of course they can't stop now - it's just starting to get really profitable!!
Hate to wreck your rant but BUSHCO loves illegals. They provide cheap labor for his wealthy buddies so that they can make even more obscene profits. So Bush is a culprit but not for any reasons you mentioned.
Here are links to the stories corroborating my claims:
http://www.alternet.org/rights/85934/?page=entire
http://www.alternet.org/rights/86043/?page=entire
Read 'em and weep. I sure did.
mgloraine
Do you honestly believe that President Bush is responsible? He was and is against the fence and as a former Governor of Texas he knows how deportation impacts the community. Try not to espouse the stuff you read and your 1960's attitude toward "The Man" oh yeah, his sister in law is mexican! Your ranting shows that you are just babbling the liberal rhetoric. Please learn before you speak or write. You have embarassed your party again!
Why do you want to turn this into a liberal , conservative issue. It is a right or wrong issue. I am a liberal and I find that mgloraine is crazy as a loon. But I don't believe for a minute that he/she is a liberal. Leave that crap at the corner.
Bush is ultimately responsible as a consequence of the position he claims to hold as Chief Executive. He appointed his Cabinet. They all work for him. If he's not stopping it, he's supporting it.
I already provided links to supporting articles in my response to moorfam. I don't make this stuff up - I don't have to.
How do you know if I've "embarrassed my party" if you don't know what my party is?
Is technically illegal the same as technically pregnant?
Yes.
But you can still go to Mexico to have that taken care of.
I hate the whole "taking parents from their kids argument", what if a childs parents(all are American citizens) are arrested for a non-violent crime and sentenced to prison, would we say, well don't send them to prison because of the kids? No, the child would be placed with family, foster care ect.
These people are a leech on our society and need to leave, and we need more laws like those in Oklahoma City, Arizona, Mannasas, VA. I those places illegals have left in droves, many back to their countries, this shows these laws work, and need to make them nationwide. If we don't make it comfortable for them to live here and make a living hear, they will leave of their own accord.
See how long I would last in England, France or Germany without proper papers if I tried to work? Not too long. Yet, people like Geraldo would want them to be able to stay.
Often when a mother and father are involved, the sentences are served consecutively - unless the home environment is inappropriate for the child
You say "These people are a leech on our society and need to leave," what evidence do you have that they are leeching considering their work product.
Also, Jesus has admonished us to love thy neighbor. Is that not relevant here?
"Jesus has admonished us to love thy neighbor"
Jesus also admonished us to not covet our neighbor's house. Is that not relevant here?
The evidence that we have that they are "leeching" is the raise in taxes to provide indigent care for illegals in our hospitals , schools, and welfare systems. They do not pay taxes as the type of work they do is usually 'under the table'. And I don't care what your God tells you to do. I don't share your religious fanatacism. Thank you very much.
Geraldo,
there is nothing to worry about. Your right wing buddies have no intention of depriving their corporate clients' of a cheap, malleable, work force.
As soon as McCain is elected the raids will stop and it will be business as usual. Tell your latino families to take their sabbaticals now and come back in November.
The raids have been the only thing that that Homeland Security done right. They need to step up deportations.
Ha, I can't wait until the barriers to Hispanic workers are raised so high that lettuce costs $12 a head and I will enjoy the screaming from all the nativists, who can move to Mexico to get lower prices, if the Mexicans will have them :-) . Some US farming companies are already moving to Mexico to get past all the immigration hysteria, taking their tax dollars and collateral revenue for local vendors with them.
The sad fact is that America has been through these cycles of immigration, nativist reaction and assimilation before, but we never seem to learn anything from our history. It's never caused the collapse of the US and never will. These people are an asset, they are Mexico's loss and our gain.
Eat a burrito, look at Rivera painting, listen to a mariachi band, and relax and enjoy it as your culture is enriched by yet another wave of immigrants.
"Ha, I can't wait until the barriers to Hispanic workers are raised so high that lettuce costs $12 a head and I will enjoy the screaming from all the nativists, who can move to Mexico to get lower prices, if the Mexicans will have them"
Yet only three percent of all illegal immigrants work in agriculture, and illegal immigrants make up only 24 percent of the agricultural workforce according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
Beyond this fact, you are making EXACTLY the same case the South made for the continuation of slavery.
"I can't wait until they free the slaves, then you all will have to pay the true cost of cotton"
Studies have shown that raising the cost of lettuce by $ .10 would allow the employers to pay a living wage. Problem is the "employer", Agra Corporations, don't even want to give up $ .10 of thier profits. That is why they can't find American workers.
How about you move to the land you love. Will miss you.
Usually the argument is that, by employing legal workers who expect greater pay, lettuce will cost $10 a head. I see it's now up to $12 a head! Amazing. The illegal field worker picking the lettuce contributes something like 30% to the cost of a head of lettuce (there's shipping, store mark-up, etc. for the rest of the price). That means, if a head of lettuce now costs maybe $1.50 in your area, perhaps 50 cents of that goes to the illegal immigrant. Now, you're telling me that if the person's pay is upped to a reasonable level, the price of a head of lettuce rises $8 - $10? So, in order to get an "American who won't do that kind of job" we'd need to pay him $8 to $10 to pick ONE HEAD OF LETTUCE?
Quit with the hyperbole.
The field worker's pay could be DOUBLED and the price of lettuce would only go up about less than 50 cents (since that's the current amount of the cost going to the field worker). Please apply some basic economic principles to this, rework the numbers, etc., and see if you can really come up with this wild explosion in produce prices if field workers are compensated fairly. The illegals are both being taken advantage of, and reducing wages for legals. It's a no-win situation having illegals working the fields.
Good Post because the phoney crackdowns are just political pandering by the same conservatives that use this kind of labor. Mitt Romney the governor on whose watch the New Bedford raid was staged, had illegals doing his landscaping and yard work. As Barack Obama stated in one debate, these people are beings used as scapegoats and the real problem is the employers. If these people didn't have a job waing for them or employers weren't eager to exploite this cheap source of labor, this would end. The conditions that these people are forced to live in are horrendous, and these raids are inhumane. If they pay their taxes they should be given a road to citizenship.
The only way they pay taxes is when they are using stolen ID. Still think they are innocent? What if they use your ID next week. Still want them to become citizens? Your really not very grounded. Do you understand that every job an illegal takes is a job he takes from an American? Wake up.
Dear Geraldo,
An illegal alien, immigrant, migrant worker, or whatever you want to call them..
Has stolen my social security number.
Do you think she's not a criminal too?
But, they are just trying to feed their families.
That is what pro-illegals would say. Hey Geraldo, why don't you go away and try to find some hidden vault!
i read, yesterday i think, about a city in Virginai, i think, about a law that says that EVERY person ARRESTED by the police be held pending an investigation into their right to legally be in this country. Now, theft of a social security number is a bad thing, deserving of prisontime (after all, that is almost identity theft) but working on a farm to assist your family's wellbeing is NOT. IMO, and i am against "illegal aliens", the law about citizen checks is the way we should go.
as for the draconian practices of DHS/ICE, well, they are "police", what do you expect? Name THREE police officers you know that are NOT heavy handed...
If all the aliens steal your social security number, you should get a new one with all the necessary work credits removed. A migrant worker could have a green card. Providing something like that to the undocumented would solve the problem - they would not be illegal any more.
HorseShit!!!!
Yeah, the Social Security Administration is just going to pop out a new # for you...
with all the damage done somehow magically erased.
I know 3 people who've been fighting bad credit caused by ID theft for OVER 5 YEARS!!
What we NEED is the Real ID Card the feds want.. a tamperproof, duplication-proof
card, NOT a new Green card, and SURE AS HELL, not a "matricular consulate" card.
Geraldo you're in the vault for the very right wing demagogues you weakly describe in this piece. The wonderful thing about this great country is that we love our history although we don’t always look closely at it. I predict that in 100 to 150 years there will be a famous demagogue named Bill Olivera, Mexican surname no doubt, railing against illegal’s from the mid east.
"Driven by the most savage talk radio and cable news anti-immigrant propaganda campaign in our nation's history, the Department of Homeland Security has unleashed an unprecedented crackdown on undocumented workers."
That should "anti-ILLEGAL immigrant."
Where does it stop Geraldo? 10..20..30 million? Never?
Maybe we should just make Mexico the 51st state.
Wow, Geraldo Rivera making sense!
Come over to the good side of the Force Geraldo, stay off Bill O'Rielly.
And why is it that Federal Government law enforcement personnel seem to feel that EVERY apprehension requires breakig in with SWAT teams ready to shoot everyone around. There's also stories of ICE officials handcuffing and throwing in prison women who married Americans but widowed days before their paperwork clears, only top be treated like Al Queda suspects in their hour of sorrow because they weren't quite yet technically Americans.
Translated: they were arrested because of fake, sham marriages came to light.
Feeling the heat?
Get ICE!!!!
Sorry Geraldo. I can't buy your argument.
I have worked in medical facilites where immigrants come in and give you a name that can not be traced to anything. I am sure that besides being illegal, most of the folks are law abiding but there are criminal in all societies. How should law enforcement react when they make a drug bust in a Hispanic neighborhood (which happens regularly - my brothers a cop) and they are unable to verify the identity of anyone?
Why is it that wage stagnation has occured simultaniously with the rise in immigraiton?
I don't fault the immigrant for comming I fault corporate America for exploiting them.
I have witnessed a company that had a large cleaning contract with a factory turn it's whole workforce over from American citizens at the bottom of the socieo-economic scale to illegal immigrants. This was done in two weeks in order to lower its cost and submit a cheap bid.
Illegal immigrants are allowing themselves to be pitted against American workers.
Why is it that wage stagnation has occured simultaniously with the rise in immigraiton?" I don't think that is true. I looked at Avg. hourly earnings back to 1985. There were very short lived speed-ups and slowdowns but it pretty much continued at a rather slow pace through out. How do you support your claim?
The Mainstream Media carefully avoids any reporting that would state the true economic conditions in Mexico. NAFTA was supposed to create a middle class there and that would stop immigration to the U.S. Well, we've seen how that worked out. The republicans, supported by some democrats, treat both countries as if they were a sims game and treat the military as if they were little green army men.
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