Thread: Raid's Outcome May Signal a Retreat In Immigration Strategy

Raid's Outcome May Signal a Retreat In Immigration Strategy, Critics Say

Most illegal immigrants netted in a raid in Mississippi were turned over for civil deportation, not arrested.

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 2, 2008; Page A13

The federal government's handling of a massive immigration raid at a Mississippi manufacturing plant last week has led critics to suggest that the Bush administration is backpedaling from its aggressive use of criminal charges and fast-tracked trials against illegal immigrants caught at workplaces.

U.S. officials reject any suggestion of a retreat or a shift in strategy in the Aug. 25 raid at a Howard Industries transformer plant in Laurel, Miss. In the nation's largest immigration enforcement operation at a single work site, federal agents arrested nearly 600 illegal immigrants there but charged only eight criminally, turning over the rest for civil deportation proceedings, as they have in the past.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency "continues to target egregious employers . . . to identify individuals engaging in identity theft, and we seek criminal charges where appropriate," spokeswoman Kelly A. Nantel said.

Nonetheless, it was a stark departure from the way authorities conducted the previous record-setting sweep 15 weeks earlier.

On May 12, immigration agents apprehended 389 illegal immigrants at an Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. Nearly 300 were charged, convicted and sentenced within 10 days in group trials in temporary courts set up at a fairground. Most pleaded guilty to document fraud, receiving five-month prison sentences.

Criminal defense and immigration lawyers led criticism of the proceedings, saying the extraordinary speed with which pleas were obtained raised the risk of error. A federal court interpreter reported that many defendants were poor, uneducated Spanish speakers who did not understand the charges.

The American Civil Liberties Union said close coordination before the raid between the prosecutor and the chief judge to structure plea agreements that hastened the process was highly irregular, raising due-process concerns.

"I think Postville left a bitter taste for a lot of people," said Robert R. Rigg, director of the criminal defense program at Drake University Law School in Des Moines, who has criticized the case. "It paints a pretty bleak picture of American criminal justice, and I don't think it's the type of thing the judiciary or main Justice wants to replicate."

Charles H. Kuck, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, agreed, saying he thinks the Justice Department is changing course.

"They clearly did not enjoy the press they got after Postville. . . . It may be a shift in strategy from how bad Postville made them look as they eviscerated the Constitution, doing everything in one fell swoop with the involvement of the federal court."

But Nantel rejected such speculation. "It certainly is not an indication of a change in strategies," she said.

Investigators are working with prosecutors to determine if there is enough evidence to pursue additional criminal charges related to both raids, Nantel said. Prosecutors have not made public an affidavit or other documents laying out the case against suspects in the Mississippi raids, she added.

She acknowledged, however, that "prosecutorial discretion is certainly a key issue." Individual U.S. attorneys are free to set "different thresholds and different bars based on different . . . priorities or degrees of interest in pursuing those sorts of cases."

Carrie Nelson, a spokeswoman for Stan Harris, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi in the Howard Industries case, said that the Justice Department "has not changed policies or procedures regarding immigration enforcement actions." Decisions in Iowa and Mississippi "were made by prosecutors in the field based on the facts and circumstances of each case," she said.

But several people familiar with interactions between the Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement cite interagency disagreements over what one side views as overaggressive investigators and the other regards as balky prosecutors.

"There are some districts where they do not want to do these cases," one U.S. official said.

Lawyers who have worked closely with Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey's office said federal prosecutors are generally very cautious about immigration raids. They have raised humanitarian concerns about rounding up hundreds of illegal immigrants and splitting families.

"Processing hundreds of illegals in the criminal court system like that in a cattle-call arena creates a huge burden on the system, and things tend to slip," said one former Justice Department official familiar with deliberations between ICE and the domestic security section of Justice's criminal division. "That's where they get criticism."

Whether illegal immigrants are charged criminally obviously means a great deal to the individuals involved. It raises the prospect of prison sentences and criminal records, as well as much harsher penalties if they are caught inside the United States again.

But for employers, the public and the immigration debate in general, any shift by immigration authorities may have relatively little impact. The same tough message can be sent whether illegal immigrants are simply caught and deported, or instead caught, criminally sentenced, imprisoned and then deported.

The roundup strategy is limited by resources and the United States' vast population of illegal immigrants, estimated at 12 million.

"I don't think it's a shift away from what they ultimately want to do, which is to punish and deter people from using fraudulent identities to obtain work. It's a different path to the same goal," Kuck said.

But he added: "They could do one of these raids a day for the next six years and still not deter people from doing it."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02358.html

Oy vey!

Lawyers who have worked closely with Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey's office said federal prosecutors are generally very cautious about immigration raids. They have raised humanitarian concerns about rounding up hundreds of illegal immigrants and splitting families.

Just quit with the splitting of these poor illegal families crap. Just close the borders and enforce existing laws. No political correctness needed. It is all about justice, and isn't that what the Justice Department supposed to do on behalf of American citizens?

This is pretty darn funny. If you have ever served on a jury, do you realize how fast they pick you? I bet it takes longer to process an illegal alien.

All the arresting officers have to do is read them the Miranda Rights for criminal charges, testify in court if the arrested speaks/confessees because it can be held against them and if they contest, then the response should be "tell it to the judge". Anything other than that is not the arresting officer's responsibility.

I guess these crazy attorneys want to be called out on the spot and hold a Kangaroo Court in the employer's parking lot for the illegals. Really, the attorney's job doesn't even begin, until the individual is arrested and charged.

Funny that the attorneys are complainging about doing their jobs. They are getting paid to defend their clients but they can't so they bitch and complain to the Liberal press about how unfair the law is that they are making a living off of. Why are any of these illegals even wasteing their money on these attorneys that clearly can't get the charges dropped.

That's it, the illegals have learned to save their money and do the time. Immigration attorneys are really bitching about lost revenue.

Dixie

The writer, Spencer S. Hsu, has completely misinterpreted the actions of I.C.E. in the Mississippi Howard Industries raid.

I.C.E. simply explained to the arrested illegals that if they plead guilty they would serve 5 months and then be deported.

Otherwise, if they chose to plead not guilty, they would be imprisoned for 6-8 months before their trial, and then have still have to serve up to an additional 16 months, as part of their almost guaranteed 2 year sentence.

It apparently made sense for almost all of them to plead guilty which frees I.C.E. from having to waste time having to try them when they are known to be guilty.

This allows I.C.E. to focus their energies, and resources, on investigating and bringing charges against Howard Industries - and this will make everyone happy.

Make a good example out of employers, and it will persuade others to clean up their act, lest they be raided.

America's mayors should be checking that all employers in their cities and towns pursue using E-Verify. A raid can ruin a town.

THERE WILL BE NO AMNESTY!!!

OUR ACCEPTABLE IMMIGRATION REFORM

#1. Secure the Border!!!
#2. Mandate E-Verify for ALL Employees!!!
#3. Mandate E-Verify for ANY Benefit!!!
#4. Stop the Underground Economy!!!
#5. End Birthright Citizenship for Illegals!!!
......and make it retroactive!!!
#6. End Chain Migration!!!
#7. Make English our Official Language!!!
#8. Cut Off Federal Funds to Sanctuary Cities!!

NOTHING MORE!!! NOTHING LESS!!!

A federal court interpreter reported that many defendants were poor, uneducated Spanish speakers who did not understand the charges.

Oh, so sad.....NOT!!

Seems to be it's their problem, not ours. They are knowledgeable enough to know what they are doing is wrong, so there is no excuse for them.

A federal court interpreter

A mole that needs to be fired. Conflict of interst if he/she is running their mouth to the immigrant attorneys or the press. Loose lips, sink ships.

I actually think it's just some cracked pot attorney making their case, with a lie about a federal employee. In fact, I think I've heard this same thing before from another raid.

Dixie

"They clearly did not enjoy the press they got after Postville. . . . It may be a shift in strategy from how bad Postville made them look as they eviscerated the Constitution, doing everything in one fell swoop with the involvement of the federal court."

But Nantel rejected such speculation. "It certainly is not an indication of a change in strategies," she said



I don't think how this was handled indicates a change in strategy all, just as Nantel says it's not.

I recall reading somewhere that the majority of illegals caught at HI were from countries other than Mexico. If this is so, it is.......because of sheer distance and economics......going to very difficult for these folks to return, unlike Mexicans who have the habit of just strolling right back in whenever they damned well feel like it.

Combined with other factors........very slim chances of employment if they return, fear of enforcement, etc.........there is likely a good chance that we wouldn't see these folks trying to come back anytime soon, if at all.

Maybe the government considered those factors into the decision, saving the taxpayers additional millions in prosecuting and jailing them.

But of course the pro-illegals would never stop to consider that. They are too busy deluding themselves that the Federal government actually gives a damn about anything they have to say about enforcement of our laws.

The same tough message can be sent whether illegal immigrants are simply caught and deported, or instead caught, criminally sentenced, imprisoned and then deported.

Caught and deported means they can simply stroll back in whenever they want. The possibility of being imprisoned seems to me to be more of a deterant.

I wonder how many Americans' ss#s were being illegally used by the 600, and also, how many have actually discovered the identity theft? I'm sure we've all heard horror stories about how difficult the problem is to solve for the innocent victim and how intractable the "system" is about repairing the victim's credit, tax records, etc. It seems to me that prosecution of these identity thieves would help the victims in at least a couple of ways. First, it might bring to light the identity theft for those who are still unsuspecting victims. Second, it would give the victims additional confirmation of the id theft to help them clear their name. Both of these would be critical steps in cleaning up the legal and financial mess the illegals and their enablers have created.

But of course we wouldn't want to do anything that would help legal American tax-paying citizens...

Under the splitting families argument, I still say if it is so inhumane, they had better start releasing every criminal in every jail or prison in this country who is a parent. That idea is so ludicrous that nobody would actually consider it. How come they don't see that by using this argument, they are actually setting precedent for violent felons to appeal their sentences based on equal protection for their children.