Thread: The impact of immigration raid on families

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The impact of immigration raid on families
By PILAR MELERO

Posted: Aug. 10, 2006
Don Pedro's demeanor is that of a man of a few words. He lives with his wife in the Whitewater area. Or rather, he lived with his wife in the Whitewater area - until Tuesday morning.

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Like every morning for the past five years, Pedro's wife got up early, made her lunch and waited for her ride to work at Star Packaging in Whitewater. She usually returns home about 4 p.m.

But Tuesday afternoon, when Pedro (not his real name) returned from work at 3 p.m., he found out that his wife would not be coming home. Rather, she might be going "home" - to Mexico, as an immigration officer put it.

Pedro's wife was one of 25 people taken into custody after a task force executed a search warrant at Star Packaging. The task force included members from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Milwaukee, the Social Security Administration, the Walworth County Sheriff's Department and the Whitewater Police Department.

Allen L. Petrie, owner of Star Packaging, was taken into police custody for allegedly conspiring to commit misappropriation of identification and for being party to a crime of misappropriation of identification.

The workers were transported to the Dodge County Jail, where they will wait until their case is decided. The process should take no more than 15 days, an immigration officer said.

"Most of them will be sent home," said an immigration officer meeting with relatives anxious to learn the fate of their husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, etc.

"You mean 'here'? (the Whitewater area)" asked Sandra Jiménez, who was at the meeting with her husband, Manuel, hoping to assist the families of the detainees. Manuel Jiménez is the pastor for the Spanish Ministry of the United Methodist Church in Delavan.

"No," said the officer, "home - to Mexico."

The term "home" was not the only one that had different meanings for Sandra Jiménez and other immigrant families and for the immigration officer. A man in the audience, who also had a relative possibly on the way "home," explained: "We have been living in the United States for 20 years. Our home is here, our job; we have children."

There were other terms for which immigration officials and the audience - more than 40 Hispanic men, women and children - had different definitions.

During the meeting, Sandra Jiménez asked the immigration officer, who insisted on calling the detainees "illegal aliens" because "that is the legal term," to consider using a less offensive term, such as undocumented workers.

"The word alien makes me think of strange little creatures," Sandra Jiménez, a legal immigrant from Mexico, said. "I am not a Martian."

Other issues, perhaps not as philosophical but equally paramount in the minds of the people wanting to know about the fate of their relatives, also were discussed:

"Should one get a lawyer?" someone asked. "Or would you be wasting your money?"

"If you are an illegal alien in the United States, you can pay thousands of dollars and you know what the answer is going to be? A judge is going to send you home," the officer replied.

Among the people caught in the immigration sweep - which Whitewater police insisted was directed not at the workers but at Petrie - was a couple. Their children have been placed with relatives until the fate of the couple is decided.

Immigration officers insist they are just doing their jobs. The operation, the officer said, is part of a nationwide initiative "to secure our borders from the invasion of illegal aliens."

But Pedro and his grandchildren are unlikely to think of Grandma as an alien - legal or illegal. He was worried about her well-being.

"She is diabetic," he said, "and she is very close to her grandchildren. That can certainly affect her (health)."

Pilar Melero of Sugar Creek in Walworth County is a professor of Spanish and Chicano/Chicana literature at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Her e-mail address is meleropilar@yahoo.com



From the Aug. 11, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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"Most of them will be sent home," said an immigration officer meeting with relatives anxious to learn the fate of their husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, etc.

What do they mean by "most." I'm assuming they were all illegal since they were all arrested. Can someone please answer a question for me? Why is it that when an illegal immigrant is arrested, the spouse (assuming he/she is illegal) isn't brought in for deportation also (U.S. Citizen children too if no one is available to assume custody). I'm sure the investigating officer can ascertain from an interview with the illegal whether they have illegal alien family members in the area. Let's deport all illegal family members, that way the deported spouse will have no reason to sneak back into the country. Sounds like a common sense idea to me. The way things are now, the illegal that is deported just comes back later to join his/her spouse and children. In other words, deport the whole family!

Am I supposed to feel bad for them?

The no ask no tell policy. All the illegals can come visit but no one can ask. Too bad!

Dixie

Originally Posted by MW

"Most of them will be sent home," said an immigration officer meeting with relatives anxious to learn the fate of their husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, etc.

What do they mean by "most." I'm assuming they were all illegal since they were all arrested. Can someone please answer a question for me? Why is it that when an illegal immigrant is arrested, the spouse (assuming he/she is illegal) isn't brought in for deportation also (U.S. Citizen children too if no one is available to assume custody). I'm sure the investigating officer can ascertain from an interview with the illegal whether they have illegal alien family members in the area. Let's deport all illegal family members, that way the deported spouse will have no reason to sneak back into the country. Sounds like a common sense idea to me. The way things are now, the illegal that is deported just comes back later to join his/her spouse and children. In other words, deport the whole family!

MW
In answer to your question, I think they are playing games, if they arrest one of the family's member they know that most probably the spouse is illegal also, but they play that game of not arresting all of them, because eventually, in some cases, because they have children born here, the result is that they are not deported. And that is not fair, because there have been some cases that even if they have children, they have deported all the family, could be that those children have not been born here if the entire family is arrested? I don't know. What I'am possitive of is that some have been arrested, and have let them go.

But how do they pick who and where to raid (barring the criminals and gangsters)?!

My town is waiting. In print this week the newspaper said, "Waukegan has thousands of illegal aliens..." I haven't been alone all week -I believe I will tomorrow so I can fully tell ICE everything I need to in peace and quiet -must honor the promise to myself to call. Maybe they do make raids on tips.

__________________________________________________ ____
The investigation started after agents received a credible tip from a member of the public late Wednesday evening. This morning the agents determined that the aliens were working for a cleaning company that is a sub contractor at the fair grounds and made the arrests.
__________________________________________________ ________

Ahhh...I just read the above in the Hamburg, NY article.

Originally Posted by fedupinwaukegan

But how do they pick who and where to raid (barring the criminals and gangsters)?!

My town is waiting. In print this week the newspaper said, "Waukegan has thousands of illegal aliens..." I haven't been alone all week -I believe I will tomorrow so I can fully tell ICE everything I need to in peace and quiet -must honor the promise to myself to call. Maybe they do make raids on tips.

fedupinwaukegan,
If they really meant to get rid of illegals they could do it by arresting thousands of them everyday. There are certain towns that are invaded by them, and do you mean to tell me that immigrantion does not know about it? A town next to mine is totally invaded, my husband always tells me when we pass by, look at the good clean up immigration could do here. As the matter of fact a woman in one of the Spanish forums tells other illegals about that town, and says that the police are very nice with them.

Talk about invaded out here. I'd be shocked to hear of such raids in this state.

As the matter of fact a woman in one of the Spanish forums tells other illegals about that town, and says that the police are very nice with them.

Bingo! Word of mouth is the biggest asset these illegals have. Once a few find an illegal alien friendly town or community an all points bulletin immediately goes out to all friends and relatives - within a year or two the town is swarming with them (many of them related). Haven't you noticed how a lot of these smaller towns (5,000 - 30,000 population) typically only have illegals from one country (Brazil, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, etc.)? Of course the larger cities have a mix, but oftentimes that is not the case in the smaller towns. With that said, we all know the largest percentage of illegal immigrants are from Mexico, so they are the ones taking over most of those small towns.

Originally Posted by jp_48504

Am I supposed to feel bad for them?

I don't