Thread: IA: Lawsuit: Immigration raid violated workers' rights

Published Friday May 16, 2008
IA: Lawsuit: Immigration raid violated workers' rights
By AMY LORENTZEN Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
http://omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1000&u_sid=10123725

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The nation's largest single immigration raid, resulting in nearly 400 arrests earlier this week, violated the constitutional rights of workers at a meatpacking plant, a federal lawsuit says.

The lawsuit accuses the government of arbitrary and indefinite detention. It seeks to prevent the government from moving the arrested workers out-of-state as their cases wend through the system.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office said he couldn't comment on the lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of about 147 of the workers rounded up Monday at an Agriprocessors Inc. meat processing plant.

The lawsuit was filed against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division and several government officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Most of the arrested workers were held in local jails. The suit notes that other raids have seen detainees transferred for detention far from attorneys, making it difficult to work on their cases.

An attorney who interviewed detainees learned that Agriprocessors obtained false identification for immigrant workers, improperly withheld money from employees' paychecks for "immigration fees," did not allow workers to use the restroom during 10-hour shifts, physically abused workers and didn't compensate them for overtime work, according to the lawsuit.

As victims of alleged crimes, the workers would be eligible for certain visas that would let them gain legal status, the suit said. Some of the arrested workers have spouses and children that are U.S. citizens and could be eligible for immigration relief because of their family ties, according to the suit.

The suit noted that a number of immigrant workers' children have been stranded with baby sitters and other caretakers as a result of the raid.

Telephone messages left for lawyers who filed the lawsuit weren't immediately returned.

This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. Is there a loop-hole in the laws that could give these people legal status? Anyone know about this?

Also, see "interesting" comment left on web blog re: further info regarding the Lubavitch Jewish sect which owns the Postville processing plant and lawsuits filed in 2007....$6.25 an hour!!...http://nebraskaobserver.wordpress.co...town/#comments

Interesting, after arrest, they complain. They knowingly participated in criminal activity with the company and are criminal accessories IMO.

Here is information about the visa.

New US Visas Offered to Crime Victims
7 Years After Authorization, New US Visas Offered to Crime Victims Who Are Illegal Immigrants
By ROXANA HEGEMAN Associated Press Writer
WICHITA, Kan. October 19, 2007 (AP)

Illegal immigrants who are victims of violent crimes in the U.S. can now apply for special visas, seven years after Congress offered protection against deportation to those who cooperate with law enforcement agencies.


Eleuterio Rodriguez Ruiz stands outside his Sacramento, Calif. apartment Friday, October 12, 2007. Rodriguez Ruiz was among those who qualified for a "U" visa because he was the victim of a crime when he and six others were held at gunpoint as they entered the country illegally in April 2005. Seven years after Congress passed legislation to protect from deportation crime victims who are illegal immigrants, the federal agency charged with administering those visas finally starts processing them this week. (AP Photo/Hector Amezcua) The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services is finally starting to process the visas this week, agency spokeswoman Marilu Cabrera said.

The long delay occurred largely because the agency drafted rules for issuing the so-called "U" visas before it became a division of the then-new Department of Homeland Security, she said. Consequently, the rules had to be reviewed again. Then the Department of Justice had concerns, she said.

"It is legally very complex, and so it went back and forth for a while," Cabrera said.

The 2000 Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act established the visa to encourage illegal immigrants to report crimes against them in return for the right to remain in the United States and eventually apply for permanent residency.

"This is an extremely important visa for individuals who have been victims of a crime," Cabrera said. "It is helpful for the government that we get information and cooperation so we can solve these crimes and prevent future crimes. For the person, it gives them peace of mind and an opportunity for a new life."


The law authorized up to 10,000 "U" visas every year. The visas are good for up to four years, and visa holders who are in the U.S. continuously for three years can apply for permanent residency.

Critics are concerned about that provision.

"I would much prefer that we used it as a temporary visa, not an immigrant visa something that allowed a person to testify but didn't give them the jackpot of a green card," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors limits on immigration.

Ed Hayes, the Kansas director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, is more vigorous in his opposition to the program. He argues that there are many more American victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants than illegal immigrants who are crime victims.

continued at site:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3749963