Catholic Bishops Condemn Immigration Raids
Raw Story reported yesterday that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has condemned the Bush administration's use of raids — like the May 12 raid of a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, and the more recent, and even bigger raid of an electrical transformer plant in Laurel, Miss., — in its ham-handed attempt to enforce immigration law:
"The humanitarian costs of these raids are immeasurable and unacceptable in a civilized society," Bishop John Wester, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) committee on migration, said in a statement.
"I call upon the Department of Homeland Security and President (George W.) Bush to reexamine the use of worksite enforcement raids as an immigration enforcement tool," he added.
This isn't the first time the religious community has spoken out against immigration raids. Alternet reports that immediately following the raids:
Jewish activists expressed their outrage by organizing a boycott of Agriprocessors, Inc. Within a few weeks, hundreds of rabbis and Jewish organizations signed a letter condemning both the company's treatment of the workers and the government's commando-style terrorizing of a community.What kicked into gear following the raids could only be described as a mass conviction machine without even the pretense of due process: Groups of as many of 17 arrestees were lumped together to be represented by one attorney, prohibiting attorneys from mounting a real defense on behalf of each arrestee. Those defense attorneys received pre-packaged scripts from the government on how to expedite their clients' cases through the courts as quickly as possible. For the government, raid + mass arrests + overwhelmed attorneys = tons of quick convictions.
After the raid in Laurel, Miss., the ACLU sent attorneys to the electronics factory, where they heard reports of workers being segregated by race or ethnicity and interrogated and many workers were denied access to attorneys. In addition, Immigration and Customs Enforcement never told family members and lawyers following the raid where the workers were being jailed.
An inter-faith movement for immigration reform is underway, according to The Christian Post:
“Immigrants continue to be scapegoated for our economic ills and often dehumanized by the use of anti-immigrant rhetoric,” [Bishop Wester] complained. “As a nation — a nation of immigrants I might add — we cannot continue to accept the labor of immigrants while also undermining their basic human dignity. We cannot have it both ways.”The opposition from the religious community, coupled with the economic blow to the small towns in which these businesses operate, shows that raids hurts all Americans, not just immigrants.
Sep 12th, 2008 at 12:32pm
If you're serious about comprehensive immigration reform and want to call out these anti-immigration vigilantes for what they are (racists), I encourage you to check out AmericasVoice.org. We're launching a full campaign this fall to raise awareness of level-headed, smart immigration policy. If you're a progressive, this is smart policy and smart politics.
Sep 12th, 2008 at 8:59pm
I live in Laurel, MS and I count myself a friend of the immigrant workers who have added diversity and strong work ethics to our community.
I was horrified to see the arrest and detention of these people. The WIN office in Laurel has been testing and vetting these workers for years. That is the office of the Mississippi Employment Agency.
What you don't tell is that the CEO was arrested at the same time and was bailed out in hours after the raid. Rumor has it that the head of personnel is going to be the fall person for the employment of the immigrants, for a rumored large amount of money to do a two year stint of incarceration.
Another issue that isn't mentioned is the displacement of the children left behind...which the Catholic Church stepped in to assist, according to a local immigrant merchant.
What is at stake in this community, with the recent increase in minimum wages, is the successful suppression of education, employment and income of local black men and women, while the military recruiters do hard sells in the same community, attempting to convince these young people that going to the military is a short cut to a better future for themselves. And those the military doesn't get can always join the ranks in the privately owned prisons in small towns across the country. These are small towns that are relying on the private prisons as their form of economic security for their citizens.
But I digress! The problems are being created by the corporate interests who want to control everything with their 'elected' puppets who refuse to tackle the real issues of working people.
The problem with this community is that the middle class white community wants to be white upper class, and their idea of electing anyone is that they look like one of them, and that the right to vote boils down to voting for the winner.
Another problem is that the founder of this company was a local football hero, who came back to town and approached all the civic leaders to buy shares in his company on the promise that it would provide jobs and economic rewards for the community. Since then, the company has moved to China and there they are making more for less than it cost to make them here. So, the question begs to be asked: Who called in ICE? Especially since the minimum wage increases here are going to make the cost of the product higher if produced here.
BTW, I am a white female of 63 years of age, and I was initially educated in a segregated Laurel, MS school system. I am not proud of what has happened to the immigrants in this town!
A last aside: The immigrants have been working here in this industry and others, primarily the chicken processing industry, for full wages without deductions for FICA or taxes. Why? Because this way the immigrants are not entitled to any of the protections that citizens have when they pay the taxes and FICA. Yes, everyone in the industries of this state and all the other states know what they do and why!
Sep 14th, 2008 at 1:50am
I used to think the USA stood for something to be very proud of. Our bad treatment of immigrant workers and students is the latest chapter of shame. It's also very hard to read these stories, because we all know that many Americans approve of the heavy handed tactics. God help those poor workers.
Sep 14th, 2008 at 9:21pm
Hello
America was once respected by all in the world for freedom , liberty and justice.This only goes for the rich and famous LIKE MARTHA STEWART , SCOOTER LIBBY , BARRY KUNTUN , KEN JENNIE . BLACK WATER EXECUTIVES. As an immigrant I was shocked by the treatmentI RECIEVED when I was at KROME FACILITY,
In that facility you have people sleeping on nasty smelly cots . stains on beds akal officer sexually abusing inmates , ICE CAPTAIN performed mock pat down with female AKAL officers in the presence of inmates.
medical treatment , the nurse laugh at you
you eat expired food
you are been touch by ICE and AKAL
officers in your private areas with no accountability.
there was once a sexually harrassment report filed and ICE captain did not report the incident to relevant authorities . inmate called the hot line , when KROME found out this inmate was move to EVERGALDES . Everglades is a tough facility and the conditions are terrible ,I once wrote DHS washington with about the conditions but with no reply , YOU HAVE BLUE MOVIES SHOW AT EVERGALDES.
ICE CAPTAIN WILL CURSE INMATES HE IS THE HITLER OF IMMIGRATION [FURGESON]
A jamaican woman was raped by ICE OFFICER
During an halloween party ICE offical [white guy] dressed up like a DREAD RASTA AND AN TOP ICE OFFICAL TOOK PICTURES WITH HIM as seen on CNN.
America has enjoyed the fruits of immigrants labor from all sector and today the harsh penalty we face becomes a politician subject when they want to get in office . Alot of broken families . like mine I can never see my kids or even travel to north america or europe because of biometircs and shared info shared By the diecitful
US.
Nov 11th, 2008 at 5:42pm
Deport them if they enter the country illegally. They don't respect our laws so we don't have to respect their so called "rights". If they want to come work here so bad President elect Obama should set up a kind of foreign exchange work program.
Nov 11th, 2008 at 5:44pm
Moderation?? If I post something, it had better not be deleted when I come back. First amemdment advocators huh?
Nov 25th, 2008 at 1:41am
I think the ACLU has this issue all wrong.
The United States allows very high levels of immigration, compared to most other developed countries. We are generally quite comfortable with immigration, but set some limits. Beyond a million or so annually, we say "No Mas."
There is no general right to live or work in the United States, illegally, circumventing our immigration rules. So I think the ACLU is on pretty shaky ground arguing that there is something wrong with these workplace raids.
The criticisms seem to focus on due process aspects, tacitly admitting the main issue at stake: these folks don't have any right to be in the U.S.
In other words: I think the official ACLU position tacitly assumes that there is a general right to immigrate into the United States. But no such right, legal or moral, really exists. So the ACLU position is wrong.
Beyond this, I think there are further rights issues at stake in this matter. Such as:
* Do working class Americans have a right to a decent wage? Or do construction workers, roofers, etc. simply have to accept that they will be competing in swamped labor markets for the foreseeable future, watching their wages erode?
* Do future generations of Americans have a right to know and connect to wild nature? Or will they have to make do with a crowded, paved-over world, because people in other countries kept having too many children?
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