Forum blasts raids on workers

Catholics, including Utah's Bishop Wester, say the treatment of immigrants is inhumane
By Jessica Ravitz and Paul Beebe
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:09/11/2008 10:45:05 AM MDT
Utah's Catholic Bishop John Wester joined other Catholic leaders in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to voice concerns about U.S. treatment of immigrants, calling the increased number of worksite raids both inhumane and ineffective.
Wester represented the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is calling on the Department of Homeland Security and President Bush to "reconsider use of . . . raids," which involve "hundreds of law enforcement officials using weapons," and instead turn the focus back on efforts to institute a "comprehensive overhaul of the broken immigration system," he said during the conference, which was accessible by phone.
Ever since talk about comprehensive reform died in Congress last year, Wester, chairman of the bishops' committee on migration, said raids - similar to this year's February raid in Lindon that led to 57 arrests and the December 2006 raid in Hyrum, which led to the arrest of 154 undocumented workers - have become the government's tool for dealing with immigration concerns.
Such raids are "designed to create an atmosphere of fear," Wester said. And while no one questions the right of officials to enforce immigration laws, church leaders - many of whom have first-hand knowledge of helping communities cope after raids - he said the toll on family members, who often end up separated, criminalizes those who just want to support their loved ones and victimizes the innocent, including the left-behind children who are U.S. citizens.
"Imagine a little child coming home from school and his primary caregiver is not there?" said Wester, who also on Wednesday submitted a written statement to DHS. "Our current policies do little to solve the problem of illegal immigration to this country; they simply appear to do so, often at the cost of family integrity and human dignity."
Martin Snow, whose Lindon guardrail manufacturing company was raided in February by 100 agents with their guns drawn, said taxpayers also bear a cost.
"How this thing went down was a big expense," said Snow, whose company, Universal Industrial Sales, lost more than half its 100 employees in the raid and still faces 10 counts of harboring undocumented immigrants. "It would be beneficial if it could be done in another method. It could save taxpayers a lot of money.
Jim Judd isn't convinced that workplace raids prevent undocumented immigrants from finding jobs.
The feds ''need to hold the employers accountable for people they hire, to make certain they are hiring people in the country legally,'' said the president of the 23,000-member Utah AFL-CIO. "Many times the consequences fall on the employees, and the employers suffer little or no consequence."
He added the raids often hurt those who are least to blame. As the family "breadwinner" is carted off by authorities, the people they love are left to fend for themselves.
In a written statement, Kelly Nantel of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of DHS, highlighted the department's respect for the Catholic leaders before adding, "We have no intention of abdicating our responsibility to enforce the law and we will continue to do so professionally and with an acute awareness of the impact that enforcement has on the individuals we encounter."
Wester said he hopes Americans will listen to people's stories and come to appreciate how complicated this issue is. Only then will they understand the need for a more comprehensive approach to reform - one that puts people on a path to living and working legally - and that enforcement, alone, cannot be the answer.
"Frankly, our country benefits greatly from immigrants. We always have. We're a country of immigrants," the bishop said. "What we really need to do is change hearts."
jravitz@sltrib.com


Worksite raids, by the numbers
* 685 arrested in fiscal year 2004
* 160 criminally charged in fiscal year 2004
* 3,900 arrested so far this year
* More than 1,000 criminally charged so far this year
* $9.7 billion: DHS's immigration enforcement budget in 2004
* $15 billion: DHS's immigration enforcement budget for 2009
Source: Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

COUNTER ANTI-IMMIGRANT LOBBYISTS

Urge Congress to support humane, equitable immigration reform –

not the proposals of FAIR and other anti-immigrant groups


BACKGROUND

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) was organized by John Tanton, the founder of Numbers USA, the Center for Immigration Studies and other anti-immigrant groups. FAIR is a lobbyist group opposed to all immigration, advocating, in its own words, “to set legal immigration at the lowest feasible levels.” FAIR ignores the dire need of refugees and asylum seekers for protection, the importance of family unity, and the high U.S. demand for immigrant workers of all skill levels. FAIR opposes family unity policies for immigrants, wants to criminalize providing humanitarian aid to undocumented persons, and claims responsibility for the failure of the DREAM Act and other pro-immigrant bills.

Unfortunately, hate and fear are very powerful motivators, and THIS WEEK (September 8-11, 2008) FAIR is bringing thousands of people to Washington, D.C., to push Congress towards an agenda of more raids, deportations, and inhumane detention; fewer opportunities for legal immigration; and decreased resources for immigrants and refugees.



CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!

The Capitol Switchboard can connect you – call 202-224-3121

Also call Nancy Pelosi (202-225-0100) and Harry Reid (202-224-3542)

Tell them that as their constituent, you urge them to:

-- Ignore FAIR and other groups that support hate and family separation.

They offer no solutions, but polarize communities with fear and hatred.

-- Only support immigration reform that is HUMANE and EQUITABLE.

Raids, detention, and deportation are inhumane and hurt children and families – we need a pathway to legal status for those who are undocumented and an improved immigration system that prioritizes family unity and reduces backlogs.


Quotes from FAIR spokespersons:

“The brown toxic cloud strangling Los Angeles never lifts and grows thicker with every immigrant added…When you import that much crime, illiteracy, multiple languages and disease, Americans pick up stakes and move away.”[1]


"They defend themselves from the illegal alien savages who kill their livestock, slit their watchdogs' throats, burglarize their homes and threaten the physical safety of their loved ones." [2]

ICE accused of tracking immigrants at Head Start

ICE accused of tracking immigrants at Head Start
Group says it's harming kids of illegal migrants, who then avoid the centers altogether

By GEORGIA PABST Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Aug. 31, 2008, 6:53 AM MILWAUKEE, WIS. — Immigration enforcement officials are now targeting migrant and seasonal Head Start centers in some states as part of efforts to track down illegal immigrants, the executive director of the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association says.

Yvette Sanchez, president of the Washington, D.C.-based association, was in Milwaukee recently for a meeting of the national board of directors at United Migrant Opportunity Services Inc.

She said immigration surveillance is emerging as one of the top three issues for the group, comprising migrant and seasonal Head Start directors, staff, parents and friends. Financial appropriations and the need for more bilingual materials are the others, she said.

"Several kids and babies died in the fields because parents were fearful of sending them to Head Start," she said in an interview.

"Since early 2007, many of our programs started to notice that Border Patrol of Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles were parked outside their centers, and some were following buses picking up children," she said.

Jason Ciliberti, supervisory Border Patrol agent in Washington, D.C., said it's not the agency's policy to stake out Head Start centers.

"It could have happened if we believe there was an immigration violation afoot, but it's not our policy or practice, I believe."

Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman with ICE in Chicago, said: "Generally, our operations avoid actions at school settings. ... However, we will take into custody during these targeted operations anyone encountered who may be in the country illegally."

In testimony before the congressional subcommittee on work force protections in May, ICE officials were provided with a list of dates and places regarding ICE activities near migrant and seasonal Head Start programs in Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and New Mexico, according to a letter sent to ICE officials in Washington by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

"We ask that ICE enforcement and intimidation tactics near migrant and seasonal Head Start centers cease immediately," U.S. Reps. Joe Baca, D-Calif., Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, wrote.

"Parents were fearful of going to the centers or letting their kids get on the bus, and enrollment went down in some parts," Sanchez said.

In Tennessee, one family took their baby with them to the fields and left the baby in the truck where the baby died, she said.

Not a requirement
The criteria for participating in migrant and seasonal Head Start programs is low family income and agricultural employment, she said. "Since the Head Start program was started in 1965, we have never asked families if they are citizens, and it's never been a requirement," she said.

Migrant and seasonal Head Start programs operate in 39 states and serve more than 30,000 migrants and 3,000 children of seasonal farm workers, she said.

Migrant and seasonal Head Start programs serve children from 6 months to school age and also provide a variety of health and transportation services.

United Migrant Opportunity Services operates Head Start programs in Wisconsin that serve 530 children.

Cris Cuevas, director of the United Migrant program, said centers here have not been targeted by immigration officials.