http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/08/poultry.plant.raid
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300 workers arrested in raid at poultry plant
* Story Highlights
* Federal immigration agents conduct raid at plant in Greenville,
South Carolina
* About 58 allowed to return to their homes to take care of their children
* No response from Columbia Farms or parent company, House of Raeford Farms
(CNN) -- Federal immigration agents arrested about 300 workers Tuesday
in a raid at a poultry processing plant in Greenville, South Carolina,
the Department of Justice said.
The agents executed a criminal search warrant at 9 a.m. at the
Columbia Farms poultry processing plant, capping a 10-month
investigation into the plant's employment practices, said Barbara
Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
About 58 of those arrested were allowed to return to their homes to
take care of their children or for other humanitarian reasons, she
said. The others were to be held in an ICE detention facility in the
area.
"They are all illegals," Gonzalez said. "We have charged them with
being in violation of U.S. immigration laws."
The investigation has already resulted in criminal charges being filed
against 11 supervisors and a human resources manager, she said.
Maria Juan, 22, was one of about 50 relatives and friends of workers
who huddled at the edge of the plant after the raid, some weeping and
others talking frantically on cell phones, The Associated Press
reported.
She was seeking information about her 68-year-old grandmother, a legal
immigrant from Guatemala who went to work without identification
papers but was later released, the AP reported.
"Families are going to be broken apart," Juan told the AP. "There will
be kids and babies left behind. Why are they doing this? Why? They
didn't do anything. They only wanted to work."
No one from Columbia Farms or from its parent company, House of
Raeford Farms in Raeford, North Carolina, responded immediately to
telephone messages.
The Charlotte Observer newspaper first reported in February that plant
workers were in the country illegally and company managers knew it,
the AP reported.
The raid "is a drop in the bucket" that is unlikely to persuade anyone
in the United States illegally to go home, said Dan Kowalski, an
Austin, Texas-based lawyer specializing in immigration law.
He questioned the conclusion by Gonzalez and ICE that all of those
arrested are indeed illegal immigrants.
"A judge has to say that, they can't just say that," he said.
All AboutImmigration • Immigration Policy
I am an immigrant. I migrated to the U.S. from the Philippines. Although it wasn't always the case, today I am learning to peel the shame I used to feel about being an immigrant. Some cringe at the word "immigrant"; some take and use it as an insult. Many believe that it's an F-word; a word that's a curse, a taboo, something dirty, a word people aren't suppose to use, it's thrown around like a weapon of hate.
The history of the word, from my understanding, is that it was used to place an identifier on a group that was seen as an 'other.' It has been posed to me that perhaps the word "immigrant" should not be used in the first place. But I disagree; eradicating the word isn't a protest of disregard of the power of the ruling class. but rather it's an admittance of their power.
Instead of using "immigrant" as an F-word, I'm suggesting that people remember that language is ours; We determine its meaning and its development, not the other way around. I am an immigrant; I migrated from one place to another. There is nothing wrong with that.
(My particular interest is in the undocumented immigrant experience, particularly undocumented immigrant youth. This blog seeks to journey into learning about the lives of immigrants, documented and undocumented alike, and the politics surrounding the subject.)
The history of the word, from my understanding, is that it was used to place an identifier on a group that was seen as an 'other.' It has been posed to me that perhaps the word "immigrant" should not be used in the first place. But I disagree; eradicating the word isn't a protest of disregard of the power of the ruling class. but rather it's an admittance of their power.
Instead of using "immigrant" as an F-word, I'm suggesting that people remember that language is ours; We determine its meaning and its development, not the other way around. I am an immigrant; I migrated from one place to another. There is nothing wrong with that.
(My particular interest is in the undocumented immigrant experience, particularly undocumented immigrant youth. This blog seeks to journey into learning about the lives of immigrants, documented and undocumented alike, and the politics surrounding the subject.)
"google that!"
Immigrant Rights are Human Rights; If a group of people can be oppressed, who decides who's next?
Inform yourself and others, go to google.com and youtube.com and check out things like:
I.C.E. Detention Center / Hutto Dention Center / DREAM Act
Inform yourself and others, go to google.com and youtube.com and check out things like:
I.C.E. Detention Center / Hutto Dention Center / DREAM Act
Saturday, November 1, 2008
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