Thread: 40 jailed in raid on immigrants

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/inde ... 031840.xml

But legal groups say city needs workers
Saturday, March 18, 2006
By James Varney
Staff writer

In one of the largest raids since thousands of Hispanic workers flocked to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, federal agents on Friday jailed 40 immigrants. Authorities said the immigrants were undocumented and that at least a dozen had violent criminal backgrounds in Central America.

The sweep was decried by some legal groups created to assist hurricane victims as divisive and unnecessary, considering the amount of labor needed to help the region rebuild.

Officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, meanwhile, said the action was not part of a major campaign but was instigated by complaints from small businesses around Lee Circle disconcerted by the large numbers of workers who congregate there. The raid was conducted in Lee Circle.

During the raid, one Latino worker trying to escape allegedly ran over an ICE agent, according to the agency's local spokesman, Temple Black. That man, who, like the others, was not identified Friday, will be charged with assault of a federal officer, authorities said.

"We'll probably keep about a dozen of them who turned out to have criminal histories, some of them violent felonies," Black said.

The others were expected to be released, but as of late Friday, it was unclear how many were still in jail. Supporters of the workers confirmed some had been let go.

After processing, those charged will most likely be held at Orleans Parish Prison pending appearances before a federal immigration judge, Black said.

The workers around Lee Circle, like their colleagues at other locations in the metropolitan area, will do roofing or drywall work, plumbing, digging or any other job offered. Men in pickup trucks cruise by, flash a certain number of fingers out the window and then employ that many men on the spot. Many workers acknowledge they do not have legal status in the United States, but so far federal agencies have not cracked down.

Nevertheless, members of the Student Hurricane Network, a consortium of law school students from across the country, called the raids divisive and said they represent a poor allocation of federal resources.

"When, from our experience, there are so many blatant labor violations throughout this city and federal labor standards are routinely violated, it doesn't make sense to be targeting the individuals who are here to help the community," said Abraham Salcedo, a student at Fordham University Law School in New York City.

"The emphasis here should be on rebuilding," he said.

Black said it was unfair to accuse ICE of overzealously enforcing immigration laws after Katrina. He denied the agency has adopted a lax stance, saying agents were concentrating on important public safety cases.

"We're concerned about the bad guy; we want to catch the bad guy, the guy with a criminal record who might break the law or present a threat to public safety," Black said. "We're not that concerned with the Sheetrocker."

Salcedo argued that any hard-core criminals were probably not trying to work for a living.

. . . . . . .

James Varney can be reached at jvarney@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3386.

IF you're going to let them go, then why even bother to pick them up?

I think if they were gone, the residents would either have to help themselves and each other or see nothing done at all.
There's plenty of legal citizens in our country that would help ... if they got paid!!